Comments on: Iran Buys Surplus U.S. Military Hardware

Investigation Finds Military Auctions Are "Supermarket For Arms Dealers"

[annd2302]

Try, Try and Try, send you to school, buy you the books, pay for your education and still you sell weapons to the enemy. Where, oh where have I gone wrong?

[defirststate]

A Defense Department official, Fred Baillie, said his agency followed procedures.

Doh! Homer Simpson said, before pointing out that the procedures are flawed, to put it nicely. Shouldn't it occur to someone in the Defense Department to change the procedures?

rick picks the one paragraph that is almost supportive of the current administration, but is still a slap in the face of logic. The system worked? If it a shipment were stopped with the Custom's evidence tags from the previous interdiction still on them, it proves only that someone in customs was more vigilant than at one or more morons in the pentagon. It leaves any rational person to conclude that an unknown number of other such shipments were likely not stopped.

Blame Clinton, does the fact that something stupid happened during his administration mean that it should be allowed to continue? If that's the way it should be the next administration will be covered for almost anything. It should be obvious the the boy in charge and his administration have had nearly 6 years to fix this, but it's clinton's fault that they've been asleep at the switch. Maybe they should fix today's problem before taking a trip back in time to past errors.

Stonewall my keyboard makes mistakes all the time, too.

[hungry1968]

You can write and protest all you want - the only people that can change the laws are the people that are benefiting from them right now. If you could re-write your work place rules, would you do it to take away a bunch of your own authority and make it harder on yourself? Or would you vote yourself a raise? They've taken control and we can't get it back.

[mdc76082]

hungry1968, you are dead wrong. All it takes to fix anything within this country is 300,971,759 Americans with enough guts, pen and paper. Talking about it on blog sites, talk radio shows, etc., won't cure a pimple on this country's but_t. Ever hear of the Boston Tea Party? It doesn't take rocket science or a Phd to fix a *** thing.

[hrdstonewall]

Thanks hungry1968, for mentioning the USS Stark incident. Like I said, things will continue to work as they have worked to this day. The cited article seems to have been ripped away from future headlines. Again, consider the flipside to the coin. If we have the mightiest military force ever created, then why are third-world rogues always buzzing and hacking at us? I believe it is because hidden powers and prime movers have allowed it and will continue to allow it; just as history has always repeated itself. It will not finish turning until Kingdom Come. And I do not mean that as an euphemism.

[hrdstonewall]

As posted in Newsweek April 1987 issue:

"...The strife in the gulf had started in 1984 when Iran and Iraq, at war since 1980, began attacking each other's ships. Inevitably, the vessels of third countries became targets. Over 200 ships had been attacked in the past three years. The Iranians were particularly keen to target the ships of Iraq's ally, Kuwait. Even though only 7% of American oil supplies came from the region, the Reagan administration insisted that U.S. strategic interests required a naval presence in the gulf. Critics complained that Western Europe and Japan, which acquired 25% and 60% of their respective oil needs from the gulf, weren't doing their part in keeping the sea lanes open. In fact, certain Western European nations had become major suppliers of military hardware to both Iran and Iraq. Damage done to the Stark had been caused by French-built missiles fired from a French-built aircraft.

The administration argued that to withdraw from the gulf would be to surrender America's role as leader of the free world, and that if oil shipments were disrupted, prices would soar, adversely affecting the U.S. economy..."

[consciousnes]

Any Defense Department employee who knew about the deals or were involved should be fired.....
Why do we continually put up with criminals? Even the knowledge and lack of action by any Defense Department employee who knew about this should be grounds for dismissal.
Is it any wonder why we cannot win a conflict? We are fighting against our own equipment because of the greed of people in the Defense Department to make themselves look good on paper so they get their incentive raised, etc.
All obsolete military equipment should be destroyed; the return realized per dollar spent does not warrant the possibility of such equipment getting in the wrong hands.

[hrdstonewall]

Oops, sorry for the poor typing.

[hrdstonewall]

The American military system has always worked that way and will continue to do so. To cite a few examples, remeber Irangate, Stinger missiles in Afghanistan, the afore mentioned Kennedy scandal and all of the informants and bad apples in the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts. Heck, we heven had similar problems with the Iraq WMD programs intelligence, which I still think are unresolved. Now we have to consider the flipside to the coin. Have all these 'gates' been opened intentionally to give the enemy a reason to come out shooting? I believe there are strong probabilities of that happening? In japanese fencing (Kendo), you always try to read your opponents' weaknesses and one of the most important opening is over-confidence which enables you to strike when your enemy fells strong.

[bluestardad]

So in the Libyan Fable it is told That once an Eagle, stricken with a dart, said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft, With our own feathers, not by others hands are we now smitten.
Aeschylus

[bluestardad]

luvNY ; Your are right on we are Pathetic

[bluestardad]

shingles1: Whooop There it issssss!

[oldsailor3]

Catch 22 again?

When I read this book in 1961 or 1962 could there have been something in that book about selling anything to anyone as long as there was a profit. If a profit is to made and we all have a share, why complain?

[bluestardad]

Rusty50 ; you can get your own pictures from CNN if you want.

[bluestardad]

getserious1; thank you

[hungry1968]

It's a tragedy really - the only people who can fix the system are the ones who are profiting from it. To fix it, you'd need most of congress, most of the senate, and the president to suddenly become honest and decent. If it was one or two people you might have a shot at reform, but right now you need the majority of 536 people to change the current system. The republicans and democrats don't have 269 honest people between them.

[fleshmonger6]

At some point, Americans should begin asking the question; why is everyone including our stated enemies able to get what they want and I have to pay so much for gas whose profits just happen to benefit indirectly the leaders of our country, prescription drugs which my government forbade the free market control of competition from occuring, and security for which the average American pays so much and seems to get so very little real security from??? Could it be that those in power are serving anything but us? But to ask these questions is not enough, you must be willing to commit yourself to change these things or else this will continue regardless of the party affiliation of those in power since they are little more than two sides of the same coin...

[inventagod]

"A Defense Department official, Fred Baillie, said his agency followed procedures."

So it's OK our Pentagon is selling surplus to the enemy...

Or it's NOT OK...

I still like seeing that picture of Saddam and Rumsfeld shaking hands, before Rumsfeld supplied the guy with weapons...politics...

[macusweil]

Yes, Bush's grand daddy helped the Nazis it runs in the family. Like a good neocon our boy Dubba is happy to help Iranians build their military when they thinks no one is looking just like Ronnie Raygun did before him.

[sharncedar]

"the fact that the customs people caught them really indicates that the process is working"

Hah hah hah, that's the same stuff we get every time from the system - everything's working, everything's perfect, there are no problems, there never were any problems, if we find a problem, it shows how good everything is because we found the problem.

More seriously, that is the reason both for the rise and fall of the Republican party. They rose quickly because of party unity and coherence, they are falling to a low point because of faulty group think. Ignoring problems makes great campaigns, but horrible leaders. Avoiding dissent makes great talking points coherence, but horrible policy decisions.

I am actually seriously considering never voting for a Republican again in my life, and I've voted both ways actually never was or will be a Democrat. The Republicans can't seem to stop and change directions when they are wrong, nor can they seem to consider any alternative viewpoints. Not sure what kind of leadership that is supposed to be, it seems like insane leadership. Every good general knows when to retreat, when to advance, when to change a plan, when to stick to a plan.