Newsweek: A disaster awaits the Abrams tanks as they enter Ukraine

A former US soldier warned of the danger of delivering Abrams tanks to Ukraine, pointing out that their use in Iraq and Yemen in a wrong way led to their destruction or capture by armored vehicles.

This came in an article published by the Newsweek magazine, on Wednesday, in which the US soldier talked about his career with the Abrams tanks, which lasted for 10 years.

US soldier, Glenn Girona, said that he began his journey with the Abrams M1 tanks in 1995, when he was 18 years old, indicating that he drove them at a time when he didn’t have a car driver’s license.

Girona pointed out that he worked in all the tasks of the tank crew, which includes the driver, the server, the shooter and the commander, noting that the most important role among the crew members is to identify the targets that are carried out by the shooter.

“Therefore, the delivery of Abrams tanks to non-professional crews in Ukraine represents a great risk, and could backfire, as happened in Iraq and Yemen,” he said.

Girona pointed out that the United States must give Abrams tanks to untrained crews who won’t be able to carry out good tasks, whatever the characteristics of the tank they drive.

And he continued, “Dozens of tanks have been destroyed or damaged in Iraq and Yemen by less efficient and armored vehicles,” adding that any additional costs spent on Abrams tanks won’t be paid if they are delivered to non-professional crews.

Washington promised to send Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine, but one of the US officials said that the tanks will be contracted, which means that they won’t be delivered soon, while pressure is being placed on other countries that use this type of tanks to send them to Ukraine.

Western countries have provided massive military aid to Kyiv since February 24, in order to obstruct the objectives of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, but Moscow asserts that military operations won’t stop until all its objectives are achieved.

The Abrams tanks were designed to be the spearhead in the ground battles of the US army, as used by Britain and many countries in the Middle East, which witnessed wars fought by Washington, none of which achieved the goals for which it began, as is the case in Iraq and Afghanistan.