Pentagon has lost track of exported missiles

[donsu]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/02/MNGT26VCPB1.DTL

A still-secret congressional report detailing the Pentagon's inability to account for all of its Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles is causing consternation on Capitol Hill and raises the specter of terrorists using U.S.-made missiles to shoot down U.S. military or civilian airplanes.

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According to the report, which is scheduled for release this month, the Defense Department does not know where to find all of the Stingers that it has either sold or given away. For example, Army records show that the Army transferred 7,551 Stingers to foreign countries from 1982 to 2004. The GAO report found that the actual number was at least 8,331. "Army data shows that the U.S. has not exported any missiles to Egypt," it reported, whereas the GAO uncovered that the United States has exported 89 Stingers to Egypt. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine (San Diego County), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he is not impressed with the existing international efforts to prevent shoulder-fired missiles from falling into terrorists' hands.

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The goal of Golden Sentry, according to a military official speaking on the condition of anonymity, is to "ensure the proper use and legal transfer of these items," and the Pentagon agency is "working toward lifetime accountability of these items." According to the cooperation agency, Golden Sentry guidelines require U.S. government personnel to inspect annually all Stinger missiles sold to foreign governments.

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Even when the Pentagon can identify where its Stingers have gone, the GAO report found, the Defense Department "lacks procedures for conducting Stinger inspections and requirements for keeping inspection records." The GAO says the Pentagon's records are neither complete nor reliable and that in 2003 a physical inventory in one country found "approximately 30 percent more Stinger missiles ... than the number on record with the (Pentagon)."Further, the GAO found that the Pentagon's process for inspecting the missiles provided to foreign governments is faulty and does not guarantee that the missiles are where they are supposed to be. According to the report, "officials overseas use inconsistent practices to perform Stinger inspections. ... (Defense Department) officials in one country we visited reported opening the Stinger container cases to count the missiles. (Department) officials in another country we visited reported counting only the Stinger container cases."

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According to one GAO official, who asked not to be named, the Pentagon "has known about these problems for years, going back to a classified report in the mid-'80s." GAO reports from after the first Gulf War and after the Sept. 11 attacks found that Stinger missiles in the United States and abroad were insufficiently protected from theft.
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I bet they DO know where they are (even the stolen ones) and I bet they know where the missing trillion dollars are too

[LittleApple81]

1. DUPE. Link here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1739347

[Bandit]

2. They can not account for over two trillion dollars as well

:shrug: Hell as long as missles get made and sold they could really give a shit. They only want the cash in their jeans.