The Pentagon is sending it's inspector-general to Iraq to investigate claims that U.S. arms supplied to Iraqi security forces have ended up in Turkey.Defense Department inspector general Claude Kicklighter, a retired Army general, is due in Iraq next week with an 18-member assessment team to probe the allegations.Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters Wednesday that he had no evidence to show that U.S.-supplied arms had been used by Iraqi insurgents against U.S. forces, or by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels against Turkish forces.Since January, Kicklighter's office has been investigating allegations that U.S. arms intended for the Iraqi police are ending up with insurgents and non-police-related groups. Morrell said Defense Secretary Robert Gates was “deeply troubled by the reports and the allegations.”“General Kicklighter has informed the secretary that he will remain in-country as long as it takes to find out if any record-keeping problems persist - and, if so, make recommendation to the commanders on the ground how to fix those problems,” Morrell said.Turkey has alleged that PKK rebels are using northern Iraq's Kurdish zone as a base to launch cross-border attacks on Turkish security forces, and has not ruled out a military incursion into Iraq.By comparing identification numbers, U.S. officials have confirmed that some of the weapons recovered by Turkish police after violent crimes had originally been bought by the Pentagon for distribution in Iraq, the New York Times reported.
