Sensitive military equipment for sale online

Aprill 11, 2008
Stolen and sensitive US military equipment, including fighter
jet parts wanted by Iran and nuclear biological protective gear,
has been available to the highest bidder on popular internet sales
sites, according to congressional investigators.
Using undercover identities, investigators purchased a dozen
defence-related items on the auction site eBay and the online
network Craigslist from January 2007 through to last month and
received the items "no questions asked."
The Defence Department regards much of the stolen equipment to
be on the US Munitions List, meaning there are restrictions on
their overseas sales, the Government Accountability Office said
today.
The equipment could land in international brokers' hands or be
transferred overseas, said the GAO, Congress' investigative
arm.
"Many of the sensitive items we purchased could have been used
directly against our troops and allies, or reverse engineered to
develop counter measures or equivalent technologies," investigators
said in their report.
Among the items purchased include two components from F-14
fighter jets bought from separate buyers on eBay. The warplanes,
now retired by the military, could easily be purchased and
transferred to the Iranian military, which is seeking its
components, the report said. Investigators couldn't determine where
the sellers had obtained the F-14 parts.
They also purchased from a Craigslist seller a used Nuclear
Biological Chemical protective suit and other protective
accessories, as well as an unused chemical-biological canister
which contained the mask filter used to guard against warfare
agents. The property was likely stolen from the Defence Department,
the report said.
Investigators also purchased stolen miltitary goods that were
sold for personal profit. The Defence Department regards the sale
of certain items issued to military personnel such as body armour
theft of government property, the report said.
"Although not all of the stolen property items available on eBay
and Craigslist were sensitive, each item was purchased with
taxpayer money and represents a waste of resources," investigators
said.
The Army recognises that the US military has had "property
accountability and visibility challenges," said Sarah H Finnicum,
director of supply at the Office of Deputy Chief of Staff for the
Army, in testimony to a House subcommittee on National Security and
Foreign Affairs.
To correct the problem, the Army started a program in 2006 to
account for all of its inventories. To date the Army has accounted
for more than 20,000 items worth more than $135 million, she
said.
Democratic Rep John Tierney, chairman of the subcommittee, said
he was startled by the fact "that it took the Army and DoD six
years to get the system in place that probably should have been in
place by 2001."
AP