US assault rifles are being sold on the Telegram messaging app in Syria - Sensationalist Headlines

[T]https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180220084400-telegram-syria-gun-card-2-exlarge-169.jpg[/T] [QUOTE]US-supplied weapons originally intended for moderate allies in Syria have ended up for sale on [B]jihadist online forums in the country's northern al Qaeda heartland.[/B] In a remarkable snapshot of the disastrous outcomes and thwarted ambitions of the West's six-year effort in Syria, an M16 assault rifle -- whose serial number suggests it was originally supplied as part of a US-taxpayer-funded effort to defeat extremists in the region -- was offered to CNN by a resident of the city of Idlib over the encrypted messaging app Telegram. The vendor claimed the weapon originally belonged to one of the more prominent and costly failures by the US to help Syrian moderate rebels combat ISIS and other extremists. In a Telegram message exchange with CNN posing as a purchaser, the vendor said the weapon came from "Division 30" -- part of an elaborate $41 million dollar effort to train and equip elite rebels to tackle jihadists. The M16 was produced by a South Carolina company called FN Manufacturing. It carries a serial number that small arms experts say matches a batch originally thought to have been given to Iraqi security forces by a US assistance program, but that was found in possession of [B]ISIS in 2014.[/B][/QUOTE] More info in the source: [URL]https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/20/middleeast/us-weapons-telegram-syria-intl/[/URL]

Terrorist sell weapons to each other and we can't trust the Iraqi security forces, what's new?

As much as it sucks, ISIS stole a lot of U.S gear when they took over Iraq. It makes sense a lot of that gear is still floating around and being sold. No one is shocked here regardless, the U.S has a wonderful track record of injecting weapons into various conflicts and losing said weapons.

Just another customer really. As if arms dealers really care about where their weapons end up.

There's a bit more of a detailed article here: [url]http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/11/06/the-messaging-app-fueling-syrias-insurgency-telegram-arms-weapons/[/url]

Why is the title so specific to mention Telegram? What does that have to do with anything. That's as abstract as saying "US assault rifles are being sold in Syria, via telegram on a Samsung Galaxy S8 Edge and transported in Totoya pickups while the terrorists are wearing Nike sneakers.

Tax dollars hard at work.

[QUOTE=Strontboer;53147148]Why is the title so specific to mention Telegram? What does that have to do with anything. That's as abstract as saying "US assault rifles are being sold in Syria, via telegram on a Samsung Galaxy S8 Edge and transported in Totoya pickups while the terrorists are wearing Nike sneakers.[/QUOTE] Gotta slam that encrypted messaging app as if it somehow facilitated the arms deal. Encryption is spooky!

What are we supposed to do in Syria if not arm people who are unfriendly to the government we dislike? Surely you wouldn't propose we go toe to toe with Russian troops?

[QUOTE=proboardslol;53147417]What are we supposed to do in Syria if not arm people who are unfriendly to the government we dislike? Surely you wouldn't propose we go toe to toe with Russian troops?[/QUOTE] Pretty sure Russia is mostly working through """mercenaries""" who are not officially operating in connection with Russia, so I'd be all for introducing them to drone warfare, personally.

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;53147420]Pretty sure Russia is mostly working through """mercenaries""" who are not officially operating in connection with Russia, so I'd be all for introducing them to drone warfare, personally.[/QUOTE] Yeah but that's the lie they said in Crimea as well

[QUOTE=MR-X;53147029]As much as it sucks, ISIS stole a lot of U.S gear when they took over Iraq. It makes sense a lot of that gear is still floating around and being sold. No one is shocked here regardless, the U.S has a wonderful track record of injecting weapons into various conflicts and losing said weapons.[/QUOTE] Reminds me of how the Reagan govt. conveniently "lost" Stinger missiles to the Mujahs, only for the same launch platforms to be used against the U.S. in the 90s and early 2000s when the War on Terror fired up.

Everyone always laments the fact that American weapons end up on the black market, but nobody bats an eyelid at modern Russian AK-pattern rifles ending up in the same place. Multiple parties in the middle eastern conflicts have been guilty of abandoning or losing vast swathes of equipment supplied to them by foreign powers. The Syrian and Iraqi governments are both well known for abandoning entire depots of foreign-supplied equipment in the face of the enemy. Most of the vehicles and weapons IS were using was stolen from the Iraqis, who were supplied it by the Americans. It's just the way wars are fought over there, unfortunately.

[QUOTE=Kali;53147523]Everyone always laments the fact that American weapons end up on the black market, but nobody bats an eyelid at modern Russian AK-pattern rifles ending up in the same place.[/QUOTE] Probably because terrorists using Russian-built weapons is nothing new, when you say terrorism the AK series and RPG-7 are some of the first things that come to mind.

[QUOTE=reedbo;53147367]Gotta slam that encrypted messaging app as if it somehow facilitated the arms deal. Encryption is spooky![/QUOTE] i cant even associate telegram with anything else but furries because every furry uses telegram good ol telegram from arms deals in syria to furry porn trading, encryption for all

No one would willingly throw away their little armalites. I mean fuck... Look at the IRA. They kept those things till the late 90's, and they still have them for show during funerals for their leaders.

Usually I'm steadfastly in favor of internet freedom, VPNs, encryption, and so on, but lately I've been really questioning whether fully encrypted communication is really a good thing or not. Obviously encryption is completely impossible to make legal because it's like banning math, but if it were possible to ban it, I'm considering that it might possibly be a good idea. I'm not sure if I feel I can trust people with completely untraceable forms of communication.

[QUOTE=AtomicSans;53150014]Usually I'm steadfastly in favor of internet freedom, VPNs, encryption, and so on, but lately I've been really questioning whether fully encrypted communication is really a good thing or not. Obviously encryption is completely impossible to make legal because it's like banning math, but if it were possible to ban it, I'm considering that it might possibly be a good idea. I'm not sure if I feel I can trust people with completely untraceable forms of communication.[/QUOTE] I'm sorry, but I'm 100% behind encryption. We've already learnt that we can't trust our governments to not spy on us, so I don't really trust them on anything much, especially with their fervour to ban encryption.

[QUOTE=AtomicSans;53150014]Usually I'm steadfastly in favor of internet freedom, VPNs, encryption, and so on, but lately I've been really questioning whether fully encrypted communication is really a good thing or not. Obviously encryption is completely impossible to make legal because it's like banning math, but if it were possible to ban it, I'm considering that it might possibly be a good idea. I'm not sure if I feel I can trust people with completely untraceable forms of communication.[/QUOTE] People have been able to communicate untraceably for forever. Encryption is just a really good way to do it. People never ban things they need at the time.