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GAO says that sensitive military hardware could be reverse engineered by foreign governments

Craigslist and eBay are both under close scrutiny for unknowingly fencing illegal goods and services.

A team of investigators from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found what it calls sensitive defense-related items for sale on both eBay and Craigslist. The investigators made undercover purchases of these sensitive goods and issued a report to the members of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives.

The report was penned by Gregory D. Kutz (PDF), Managing director of Forensic Audits and Special Investigations. The report outlines exactly what sensitive and stolen items the GAO found on eBay and Craigslist.

On eBay investigators were able to purchase an F-14 antenna. The GAO says that Iran is the only country currently operating the F-14 and that replacement components are in high demand. The report also says that winning bidders on other auctions held by the same seller were in countries like Bulgaria, China, and Russia.

The GAO was able to purchase nuclear biological and chemical gear on Craigslist. Investigators say that this gear could be reverse engineered to develop countermeasures and to produce equivalent technology. The report also claims that this gear is stolen military property.

The investigators were also able to purchase enhanced small arms protective inserts on eBay. The report says that the body armor plates were made in June of 2007 and are currently in use by American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Winners on other body armor items offered by the same seller are noted as originating in China, Taiwan and Singapore. The body armor is reported to have been either stolen from the U.S. military of the manufacturer.

The report says that the GAO has found that some F-14 components found for sale were purchased from the Government Liquidation Web site and that the items had not been demilitarized properly. The DOA’s investigation was conducted from January 2007 through March 2008.

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Doesn't surprise me
By Hakuryu on 4/11/2008 3:11:42 PM , Rating: 2
I was in Korea in the US Army and about a mile outside of the base there was a gigantic market, made up of alleys and small storefronts where goods were literally piled everywhere. Everyone in the Army knew if you lost your sleeping bag or shovel, that a replacement could be bought for much cheaper in a certain area of this market than getting a replacement through the Army.

This black market of US Army goods covered a few blocks, and had everything from gallon jugs of hand soap to flak jackets. Some Koreans working on the base would smuggle stuff out to be sold there, while others would actually steal from military units in the field.

While the goods there weren't exactly dangerous, I didnt see any plane parts, if they can get away with that right under the noses of the nearby base, it doesn't surprise me they can get away with selling stuff on Ebay.




RE: Doesn't surprise me
By 325hhee on 4/11/2008 3:51:23 PM , Rating: 1
I can't blame the military for taking in just about anyone. Do you know how desperate we are for troops? And who would really hire ex-cons and felons? Everyone likes to whine and complain, bitch about the military. And we're one of a few countries that "DO NOT" have mandatory military.

I applied to the Marines twice, and both time was rejected due to asthma. If it weren't for that, I would have been proud to be a jarhead, a grunt. I don't give a damn about being an officer, because I hate politics and BS, I'm a good soldier and that's it, I choose not to lead.

I did make it into the reserves, but eventually was given a medical discharge, again, damn asthma. After my 10 mile run, I was so out of breath, I had no way of disguising my condition.

Scary part about me being in the reserves, most of my unit were immigrants, who came to the US for a better life, and wanted to serve the country anyway possible, for the love of the US. It's sad and disgusting that people whine and complain so much in the US and does absolutely nothing about it. If not for Felons and Immigrants, who's going to join the Armed Forces? Rich people, don't count on it, if anything, they'll call up generals, admirals, etc and say, put my son/daughter in some comfy office job somewhere in Palm Springs. Obviously the Bush daughters didn't serve. The middle class, they're not going to allow their kids to join either, they want them to be doctors, lawyers, or something that makes money, but no military service. Poor people they probably will look at the military as a way to get better education, for free, or OJT.

These are the majority of the military recruits out there, these are the people I worked and served with. Everybody is so deathly afraid of dying, going to Iraq, or going to war, they forget. Not everybody is a grunt or GI. Not everything in the military is a hand to hand combat situation. There are other avenues of studies in the military that would put people out of harms way. No one ever thinks about that.

So unless you served in the military, or at least made an attempt to. STFU, you have no right to an opinion. The military is desperate, and every year the recruitment candidates gets lower and lower. I tried and cheated my way through, but still got caught. I was too high of a risk to keep in, and my asthma will always be there. But doesn't mean I don't work out.


RE: Doesn't surprise me
By Nik00117 on 4/11/2008 4:55:34 PM , Rating: 3
I'll give you a story about an Ex-con.

My buddy had always had a desire to join the Army. Well anyways he worked towards this girl however his parents wouldn't let him actually sign up until he finished highschool. Either way 2 days after he graduated in 2002 he got a call from his buddy, who was a drunken mess. He asked to be picked up, my buddy went out and picked him up being a good friend. As his friend got in the car he had a light jacket and tossed it in the back of the car. Either way my buddy drove his buddy home and the other guy of course grabbed his jacket.

Well on the way back my buddy got stopped at a ploice checkpoint as they sometimes setup at this time of night to catch drunk poeple. My buddy didn't fear for anything since he didn't do anything wrong and he expected to simply be left alone. However the cop didn't leave him alone. The guy he just picked up had for some reason had over an ouce of weed on him. Well an ounce is a sizable ammount and he got of course got arrested, he pleaded with the judge and so forth telling the judge he never did drugs or anything which he didn't, his drug test results came back super clean. However the evidence was clear, there was an ounce in his car, which is considered enough for dealing. The judge setenced him. Well he got palored and so forth and in 2003 he attempted to join the Army he was of course rejected because he was a "hardened criminial" well in 2007 he tried again figuring he could get by with a wavier, and he did.

You have to understand the military is essentially giving thousands of poeple nowadays a second chance. I mean its estimated 70% of highschool students at some point and time smoke weed, well if your over 18 and get caught smoking weed guess what? in most states thats a feloney. So even if you did something like smoke a joint for a celebration for graduation and dediced to join the military 5-6 years later, 5-6 years of maturing you could still vbe rejected, put in a wavier explain that was a long time ago you were young and dumb you've matured and you wanna join the army to improve yourself.

Ladies and gents, waviers is a good thing it allows the army to bend the rules when required. And can I tell you something? The military has a way of straightening out most fuck ups. Either in boot camp, tech school, or when ya get down range. I bet most poeple getting waviers figure the army is their last chance, so they are going to go ahead and try their best to not screw up. Waviers are not bad... Almost everyones done pot or something minor illegal which is many states is considered a feloney. Do it after you turn 18 and thats being tried as an adult.


RE: Doesn't surprise me
By teldar on 4/12/2008 8:07:54 AM , Rating: 5
Personally, I think the moral of this story is that they ought to legalize weed any way. If they sold it in stores and just taxed the hell out of it, it would decrease financial burdens on the legal system (and us) and generate more revenue through taxes.

T

And I don't smoke it, either, I just don't really believe it's a whole lot worse for you than cigarettes or alcohol.


RE: Doesn't surprise me
By phxfreddy on 4/13/2008 9:23:09 AM , Rating: 2
Always got to add that high taxation angle. I tire of this approach. How about just "legalize weed" and leave it at that. Its bad enough we have government cheese eating employees living in our colons for life taking a piece of absolutely farking everything we do.


RE: Doesn't surprise me
By murphyslabrat on 4/13/2008 6:07:31 PM , Rating: 2
Actually, if you legalized "weed", you would destroy the market for it. It is a high-margin, high-priced commodity due to it's artificial scarcity. This artificial scarcity would evaporate if it became legal, rendering stocks of it relatively worthless, potentially ruining many involved.

And, it's not like it could be any worse, as we already have alcoholics and chain-smokers.


RE: Doesn't surprise me
By phxfreddy on 4/13/2008 9:20:15 AM , Rating: 2
Hey man...Bushes daughters are a bit femmy for joining the Army and I think its good they do not. I could easily see being stuck caring for them while spraying lead in order to keep enemy heads down. Not a good situation. Women in the military need to be men. ( bull dykes )


Report Just In....
By andrewsdw on 4/11/2008 1:39:27 PM , Rating: 2
I was about to say why don't they prosecute the sellers until I read:

quote:
The report says that the GAO has found that some F-14 components found for sale were purchased from the Government Liquidation Web site and that the items had not been demilitarized properly.




RE: Report Just In....
By 16nm on 4/11/2008 2:25:31 PM , Rating: 3
Only some F-14 components were handled improperly.

The government should have known that something like this could've happen when they allowed felons to join the forces.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/ch...


RE: Report Just In....
By Polynikes on 4/11/2008 3:07:13 PM , Rating: 3
It's bad enough accounting for gear in the military when you don't have felons around. I knew guys that scored tons of extra gear they took home when they got out, including ballistic plates.


fs: 1 warhead
By tastyratz on 4/11/2008 2:00:30 PM , Rating: 4
For sale on craigslist for quick sale!
1 nuclear (or nucular depending on who you are) warhead for sale. green paint, only used once.

call Tim for details
555-1212




RE: fs: 1 warhead
By phxfreddy on 4/13/2008 9:28:30 AM , Rating: 1
I say it nucular too. Most words have different acceptable and still recognizable pronounciations. Or were you trying to infer only people who speak like you are intelligent? Ah well ok but that means Al Gore is a genius because he can talk properly. Tired of hearing that the clear talkers are the intelligent ones. Being able to talk in a way that others want to listen only means you have good wiring between the brain and the mouth. Unfortunately it appears to me that in politicians that's a bad thing. For they rarely have any other parts of their brain wired correctly.


Somewhere in a cave...
By xsilver on 4/11/2008 2:06:57 PM , Rating: 5
hey what are you looking at?

"T&A..."

oh yeah? 34-24-28's?

"nah, F/14,f/16,abrahms..."

what? oh Tanks & Antenna's, I thought you meant something else. ;)




Well now....
By eye smite on 4/11/2008 1:23:14 PM , Rating: 1
Doesn't this just make you feel all warm and fuzzy. lol




RE: Well now....
By FITCamaro on 4/11/2008 1:47:33 PM , Rating: 3
Makes me glad we monitor the internet the way we do.

And DT, read through the article again. You've got a number of spelling errors.


Every company, but here's the difference
By mindless1 on 4/11/2008 9:57:54 PM , Rating: 2
(Practically) Every employer of size has loss through employee theft. A lot of it. There should be no surprise it happens in the military as well.

All we're seeing is another branch whose mission it is to uncover this, I don't think it's really news that it happens nor that some try to sell the stuff on generic 'sites like ebay or Craigslist instead of the old fashion way through contacts. I might even go so far as to say that this stuff on ebay/etc is only a small minority, just what can be tracked as the seller is desperate (or ignorant) enough to put it up where all the world can see it.




By phxfreddy on 4/13/2008 9:31:01 AM , Rating: 2
Don't forget the biggest source of theft in companies is the US governments IRS. The government does nothing and makes you pay for it!


It could be worse...
By i3arracuda on 4/11/2008 1:46:22 PM , Rating: 2
...they could have been shopping for a Scientology E-Meter.




Typical activity...
By redeyedfly on 4/11/2008 3:06:12 PM , Rating: 2
Typical activity during an economic recession. People empty out there closets, garages, and steal to sell anything to make an extra buck. Again the absurb price of oil affecting everything in its path.




F-14 parts
By Desslok on 4/11/2008 2:58:36 PM , Rating: 1
Even if they did get these spare parts it would not do them any good. Before the Northrop guys left Iran they made sure the weapon systems were non operational and could not be repaired.




"We can't expect users to use common sense. That would eliminate the need for all sorts of legislation, committee's, oversight and lawyers." -- Christopher Jennings




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