Kerry calls for probe of Pentagon sales (to China & Iran)

[TayTay]

Kerry calls for probe of Pentagon sales

By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer
17 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry on Thursday called for an investigation into security weaknesses in the Defense Department's surplus sales that have let buyers for Iran and China acquire aircraft parts and other valuable military gear.

The Massachusetts Democrat sought an inquiry by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after The Associated Press reported that in several instances middlemen for the countries had exploited security flaws to acquire sensitive surplus.

The surplus sales include parts for F-14 "Tomcat" fighter jets, a plane retired last year by the United States and now flown only by Iran. Iran bought the jets in the 1970s before the U.S. government banned most exports, including defense-related sales, to the Mideast country.

"There is no way that Iran should be getting these sensitive military parts, especially with the situation in the Mideast so turbulent," Kerry said.

Federal investigators say that in at least one instance, gear purchased from Pentagon surplus got to Iran. A Pakistani arms broker bought Chinook helicopter engine parts for Iran from a U.S. company that had bought them in a Pentagon surplus sale, and those parts made it to Iran, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.


More at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_go_co/military_surplus_stings_1

[ProSense]

1. Just posted in

GD-P. All the tough talk directed at Iran and the Bush admin commits another blunder.

[Democrafty]

2. Oh, snap!

This is great. I am very, very proud to see this.

[wisteria]

3. Good detective work on Kerry's part, now lets see how the White House spins this.

Those bungling idiots who are suppose to be protecting us and fighting the enemy. I wonder if there is more to this and someone is making a huge profit. We don't need the parts, but Iran does. This could get interesting.

[beachmom]

4. Cows have just flown. NewsMax put this article up on their site

with no comment. So looks like they're concerned about this, too. It must hurt to know their arch enemy is the one who called for the probe, but they appreciate it nevertheless.