US Army Rejects Reports It Asked Taiwan for Rifle Ammunition

The US Army flatly rejected claims on 14 January 2005 that it had approached Taiwan to purchase large quantities of rifle ammunition to offset shortages caused by operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A Taiwanese evening newspaper had reported, citing military sources in Taipei, that Washington sought to acquire roughly 300 million 5.56-millimeter rounds at an estimated cost of 2 billion Taiwan dollars (about 62.5 million US dollars).

Brigadier General Paul Izzo, the Army's top ammunition program official, stated that no such request had been made and that supplies to soldiers worldwide were adequate.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.