WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2007
Iran Buys Surplus U.S. Military Hardware
Investigation Finds Military Auctions Are "Supermarket For Arms Dealers"
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This undated handout photo provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows the box containing parts that were originally seized during the Multicore investigation, returned to Pentagon surplus, resold with a customs evidence sticker still attached, and in 2005 seized again by customs agents from another company suspected of doing business with Iran. (AP/ICE)
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This Oct. 26, 2005 file photo released by the US Navy, shows an F-14 "Tomcat" from the Fighter Squadron (VF) 31 patrolling the skies over Iraq. The Pentagon retired the F-14 in Sept. 2006. (AP/U.S. Navy)
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The Humvees were equipped for combat zones and some weren't recovered, Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Ingersoll said.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., called the cases "a huge breakdown, an absolute, huge breakdown."
"The military should not sell or give away any sensitive military equipment. If we no longer need it, it needs to be destroyed — totally destroyed," said Shays, until this month the chairman of a House panel on national security. "The Department of Defense should not be supplying sensitive military equipment to our adversaries, our enemies, terrorists."
It's no secret to defense experts that valuable technology can be found amid surplus scrap.
On a visit to a Defense Department surplus site about five years ago, defense consultant Randall Sweeney literally stumbled upon some items that clearly shouldn't have been up for sale.
"I was walking through a pile of supposedly de-milled electrical items and found a heat-seeking missile warhead intact," Sweeney said, declining to identify the surplus location for security reasons. "I carried it over and showed them. I said, 'This shouldn't be in here."'
Sweeney, president of Defense and Aerospace International in West Palm Beach, Fla., sees human error as a big problem. Surplus items are numbered, and an error of a single digit can make sensitive technology improperly available and knowledgeable buyers could easily spot a valuable item, he said. "I'm not the only sophisticated eye in the world," he said.
Baillie said the Pentagon is working to tighten security. Steps include setting up property centers to better identify surplus parts and employing people skilled at spotting sensitive items. If there is uncertainty about whether an item is safe, he said, it is destroyed.
Of the 76,000 parts for the F-14, 60 percent are "general hardware" such as nuts and bolts and can be sold to the public without restriction, Baillie said. About 10,000 are unique to Tomcats and will be destroyed, he said.
An additional 23,000 parts are valuable for military and commercial use and are being studied to see whether it's safe to sell them, Baillie said.
Asked why the Pentagon would sell any F-14 parts, given their value to Iran, Baillie said: "Our first priority truly is national security, and we take that very seriously. However, we have to balance that with our other requirement to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money."
Kutz, the government investigator, said surplus F-14 parts shouldn't be sold. He believes Iran already has Tomcat parts from Pentagon surplus sales: "The key now is, going forward, to shut that down and not let it happen again."
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- Posted by j-whitman at 09:10 PM : Jan 16, 2007
annd,, You question my honesty ??
No, I do not,
"You seemed to say nothing untill I mentioned Congressman Duncan Hunter..."
Did it all get flushed? - Reply to this comment
- j-whitman
38 total years in the Oklahoma Army National Guard with 20 of those years being a Federal technician. Retired as a Master Sergeant. I am 62
Do you recall the BOP - Reply to this comment
- It's the system
- Reply to this comment
- patriotic9
This has very little to do with the bush family
The American government has a long history of this kind of stuff. The CIA first funded Saddam for a military coup in 1959, they funded the Shah of Iran in 1953 for a military coup to over through the democratically elected government of Iran. The Shah was brutal dictator till about 1979. Pinochet was also funded by the US, Hitler was.
America sells a third of the weapons in the world, then spends 440 Billion a year on military, mostly to enforce the 'corporate world's' economic ideas upon the rest of the world, and make money via war. Make note it isn't just America in on it, players in this game come from every corner of the world, just the majority are western.
Of the "Largest 200 companies" in the world around 100 are owned by the US, and together the west(europe/usa) have 170 of the 200.
So it's not bush, it's the whole system
vote with the way you spend your money
do some research, if the above stuff is true?
Spread the story
peace - Reply to this comment
- annd,, You question my honesty ??
- Reply to this comment
- annd,, You have 38 years in the military, & 20 years civil service,, How old are you ??... I did 20 in the navy myself.
- Reply to this comment
- annd,,, I can tell you of supervisors at Mathis AFB who have submitted wrong budget reporting, as well as wide spread theft from othre bases as well if you wish... You seemed to say nothing untill I mentioned Congressman Duncan Hunter... I'm sure you did your job well, there are thousands who don't.
- Reply to this comment
- The key is, That whatever sales, IS GOING TO SALE! I think that the most important thing is not to forget where these old parts came from. Does it seem logical intelligence doese'nt realize exactly what's been done, or that can even still be done. Have some good god.....;'ol American faith! I'm almost sure there's a master plan.
- Reply to this comment
- annad,,, Sorry for the double post... The problem we had was totally lax turn-in procedures & people who should have known better caring only about bonuses identifing the material... Instead of proplerly researching & classifing items they would simply assign a LSN-0000 to the items making it impossible for dimil tracking.
- Reply to this comment
- annad,,, Sorry for the double post... The problem we had was totally lax turn-in procedures & people who should have known better caring only about bonuses identifing the material... Instead of proplerly researching & classifing items they would simply assign a LSN-0000 to the items making it impossible for dimil tracking.
- Reply to this comment
- Why is BUSH fighting an ISLAMIC JIHAD gainst Americans by giving our TAX PAYED MONEY and WEAPONS to the ISLAMIC RADICALS MALIKI & Co. for the killing of our troops in IRAQ and why people in his administration have sold weapons to IRAN?We haven't done anything wrong with the BUSH's family then why is he doing that to us?
- Reply to this comment
- annad,,, Sorry for the double post... The problem we had was totally lax turn-in procedures & people who should have known better caring only about bonuses identifing the material... Instead of proplerly researching & classifing items they would simply assign a LSN-0000 to the items making it impossible for dimil tracking.
- Reply to this comment
- annad,,, Sorry for the double post... The problem we had was totally lax turn-in procedures & people who should have known better caring only about bonuses identifing the material... Instead of proplerly researching & classifing items they would simply assign a LSN-0000 to the items making it impossible for dimil tracking.
- Reply to this comment
- Now, j-whitman the 3 quotes below by you is fairly "Lumpy" I was also 38 years in the military, now, I think you owe a few an appology.
Posted by j-whitman at 07:14 PM : Jan 16, 2007
"It is solely civil service workers & supervisors creating this problem & has been going on for years."
Posted by j-whitman at 07:10 PM : Jan 16, 2007
"It's a world wide organization."
Posted by j-whitman at 07:05 PM : Jan 16, 2007
"& our Retirees who forget everything the military tought them - for Greed " - Reply to this comment
- Bush is not only giving US Tax Dollars to Islamic Radicals,MALIKI,SADR,SISTANI,etc for the killing of our troops in Iraq but Bush Administration is now selling US weapons to the worst enemy of United States "IRAN" who call us the GREATEST SATAN and who believe in killing us all for the second coming of their FINAL IMAM MEHDI.
Why is BUSH fighting ISLAMIC JIHAD agianst Americans?Does anybody have the answer? - Reply to this comment
- annd,,, I don't think I've lumped them togeter, we do have honest & capable people in the civil service... What I ran into was throughout DRMO's in the Western United States including high level execs in Battle Creek....
- Reply to this comment
- annd,,, I don't think I've lumped them togeter, we do have honest & capable people in the civil service... What I ran into was throughout DRMO's in the Western United States including high level execs in Battle Creek....
- Reply to this comment
- j-whitman
I was a civil service worker for over 20 years, and your statement about the civil serviuce worker and supervisor is not not not not correct. I was also a Supervisor, as a matter of fact I was responsible for millions of federal money and never lost a penny. Do not lump everyone in one bag. There are honest people who work for the government. Millions of them. Maybe you were the dishonest one, huh? - Reply to this comment
- r_bayless
The government Hotline for Fraud Waste & Abuse is as follows:
1-800-232-5454 Use it to voice your complaint - Reply to this comment
- jt -- In 1999, I sent 2 large packages of evidence to Congressman Duncan Hunter who used to be known for his efforts on Fraud Waste & Abuse -- He did nothing.
- Reply to this comment
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