Want To Be A Terrorist? The Pentagon Can Help!

our defense dept. sells anything to just about anyone

Published on January 17, 2007 By Sean Conners aka SConn1 In Current Events

Are you looking to start your own terrorist organization but just don't know where to get all those parts to build your bombs? Well, thankfully, in this land of opportunity, the Pentagon has got you covered!

And furthermore, for pennies on the dollar!

It's kind of like Ebay for terrorists, maybe they'll call it "EBomb."

Really, the US Defense department has been selling literally hundreds of lots just filled with missile parts, bomb making parts and all kinds of useful tools for the bad guys. And unlike the inflated prices that the Pentagon pays for the stuff, they are willing to sell it to just about anyone at a severe discount.

Is this theoretical? Nope. It's real and has been going on for quite some time.

Auditors from the Government Accountability Office, posing as private citizens, were able to purchase from the DoD sensitive military equipment such as “ceramic body armor inserts currently used by deployed troops, a time selector unit used to ensure the accuracy of computer-based equipment, such as global positioning systems and system-level clocks, a universal frequency counter used to ensure that the frequency of communication gear is running at the expected rate, two guided missile radar test sets, at least 12 digital microcircuits used in F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft, and numerous other sensitive electronic parts.”

But wait, there's more! Our Pentagon will simply give away its excess inventory to government contractors. That's right, for free. Which means you, like the auditors, could just walk into a warehouse, say you’re with some contractor, and walk out with “two launcher mounts for shoulder-fired guided missiles, several types of body armor, a digital signal converter used in naval electronic surveillance, an all-band antenna used to track aircraft, six circuit cards used in computerized Navy systems, and several other items in use by the military services.” That’s $1.1 million worth of stuff absolutely free for the asking by anyone.

And much of it isn't "junk." It's brand new. In testimony before Congress Tuesday, Gregory D. Kutz, GAO’s Managing Director of Forensic Audits and Special Investigations, told of how auditors purchased for pennies on the dollar brand new, unused equipment that military units had to pay their full, sometimes inflated price for.

Here's what he said:

We also made several undercover purchases of new, unused A-condition excess DOD items, including wet-weather parkas, cold-weather desert camouflage parkas, a portable field x-ray processing enclosure, high-security locks used to secure the back bay of logistics trucks, a gasoline engine, and a refrigerant recovery system used for servicing automotive vehicles. The items we purchased at DOD liquidation sales were being ordered from supply inventory by military units at or near the time of our purchases and for one supply depot stocked item — the portable x-ray enclosure — no items were in stock when we made our purchase. At the time of our purchase, DOD’s liquidation contractor sold 40 of these x-ray enclosures with a total reported acquisition cost of $289,400 for a liquidation sales price of $2,914 — about a penny on the dollar. In another example, we purchased a gasoline engine in March 2006 for $355. The Marine Corps ordered 4 of these gas engines from DLA supply inventory in June 2006 and paid $3,119 each for them. At the time of our undercover purchase, 20 identical gasoline engines with a reported acquisition cost of $62,380 were sold to the public for a total liquidation sales price of $6,221. — DOD Excess Property: Control Breakdowns Present Significant Security Risk and Continuing Waste and Inefficiency (PDF) Link

In a separate report released Tuesday, GAO documented many other purchases it made from DoD excess inventory, something anyone can do by finding the Web site where the inventory is sold. It said that poor security at Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office warehouses allowed anyone to walk out with free stuff by claiming to be a government contractor and that poor internal controls allowed sensitive military equipment to make it onto liquidation web sites where anyone could buy it. Link

But a 2003 GAO report not made available to the public was even more explicit about the ongoing problem, according to the Project on Government Oversight.

According to the report , “Many items needed to establish a laboratory for making biological warfare agents were being sold on the Internet to the public from DOD’s excess property inventory for pennies on the dollar, making them both easy and economical to obtain. Although production of biological warfare agents requires a high degree of expertise, public sales of these DOD excess items increase the risk that terrorists could obtain and use them to produce and deliver biological agents within the U.S.” — Project on Government Oversight Link

MSNBC reported just yesterday about a report that shows that a man who had been previously busted for selling weapons to hostile governements was using the DoD store to buy Tomcat fighter parts. He then sold those parts to Iran. Why did Iran need them? Because we sold them the planes in the 70's! And maybe they are looking to put those old planes to good use.

This is a disgrace and an outrage.

Comments

bakerstreet

on Jan 17, 2007

This is about waste, not terrorists. What's described here is junk in terms of dangerous items, and terrorists can buy the real thing from China, Russia, etc., through proxies as cheap as we sell our junk.

The Tomcats were sold by Nixon in the 70's to the Shah's regime, if I am not mistaken.

Sean Conners aka SConn1

on Jan 17, 2007

The Tomcats were sold by Nixon in the 70's to the Shah's regime, if I am not mistaken.

MSNBC reported the 80's on air, a typo perhaps by them? ,,,maybe it was the 70's...it took me aback. if i find more, i will update.

What's described here is junk in terms of dangerous items,

According to the report , “Many items needed to establish a laboratory for making biological warfare agents were being sold on the Internet to the public from DOD’s excess property inventory for pennies on the dollar, making them both easy and economical to obtain. Although production of biological warfare agents requires a high degree of expertise, public sales of these DOD excess items increase the risk that terrorists could obtain and use them to produce and deliver biological agents within the U.S.” — Project on Government Oversight Link

i disagree.

bakerstreet

on Jan 17, 2007

" Imperial Iranian Air Force / Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force The sole foreign customer for the Tomcat was the Imperial Iranian Air Force (since 1979 Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) during the reign of the last Shah (King) of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In the early 1970s, the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was on a search for an advanced fighter, specifically one to intercept Soviet MiG-25 reconnaissance flights. After a visit of US President Nixon in Iran, in 1972, during which Iran was offered the latest US military technology, the IIAF narrowed its choice to the F-14 Tomcat and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. Following preliminary negotiations with the Pentagon, and basing their decision on the performance of the AWG-9 radar and weapons system, as well as the AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, the Iranians selected the Tomcat. Having no knowledge about Iranian selection, almost a year later, the Grumman Corporation issued a formal offer to the Shah of Iran, and eventually arranged a competitive demonstration of the Eagle against the Tomcat. Following a flying display of two fighters to the Shah, in January 1974, Iran issued an order for 30 F-14s and 424 AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, initiating the Project "Persian King", worth $300 million. Only a few months later, this was expanded by an order for 50 additional F-14As and 290 AIM-54s. The Iranian order for 80 Tomcats and 714 Phoenix missiles, spare parts, and replacement engines for ten years, complete armament package, and support infra-structure (including construction of the huge "Khatami Air Base", in the desert near Esfahan) finally totalled $2 billion, and was considered at the time to be the highest value, single foreign military sale in US history.
The first F-14 arrived in January 1976, modified only by the removal of classified avionics components, but fitted with the TF-30-414 engines. The following year, 12 more were delivered. Meanwhile, training of first groups of Iranian crews was underway in the USA, and one of these conducted a successful shoot-down of a drone flying at 50,000 feet with an AIM-54 missile. Additional tests were undertaken in 1977, and in October 1978, two Iranian Tomcats intercepted a Soviet MiG-25 underway along the Iranian coast of the Caspian Sea, convincing Moscow to stop overflights of Iran.
Following the overthrow of the Shah, the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini cancelled most of the Western arms orders. Large shipments of spares were held back, including the last Tomcat built for Iran. The 80th Tomcat was embargoed and turned over to the United States Navy.According to Tom Cooper, and contrary to some reports, Iranian F-14s were not sabotaged following the Shah's overthrow. Deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Iran led to the arms embargo on Iran, which included parts for its western fighters and missiles..." (Link)

The Iran-Contra arms were TOW missiles.

bakerstreet

on Jan 17, 2007

"According to the report , “Many items needed to establish a laboratory for making biological warfare agents were being sold on the Internet to the public from DOD’s excess property inventory for pennies on the dollar, making them both easy and economical to obtain. Although production of biological warfare agents requires a high degree of expertise, public sales of these DOD excess items increase the risk that terrorists could obtain and use them to produce and deliver biological agents within the U.S.” — Project on Government Oversight Link"

I'd be very surprised if there was anything there than you couldn't get from surplus wholesalers from Russia, China, etc. Regardless of how lax we are, why would terrorists bother leaving breadcrumbs with the US government when they can buy things as cheap from parties that don't give a damn what they do with them?

If you were a terrorist, would you buy from the DoD, or China? Terrorists aren't stupid, or poor.

Sean Conners aka SConn1

on Jan 17, 2007

i updated the 80's line....still disagree with you about this not being dangerous. i see it differently. to each their own.

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