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Ear to the Ground

Senators Seek to Deny U.S. Jet Parts to Iran

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Posted on Jan 29, 2007
F-14 Tomcat
globalsecurity.org

Although the United States and Iran have a testy relationship at best, weaknesses in security protocol currently allow buyers for Tehran to procure valuable aircraft parts from the U.S. military. At least two Democrats in the Senate want to cut off the supply, which would make the Iranian air force effectively irreparable.

AP via Yahoo!:

Sen. Ron Wyden’s bill came in response to an investigation by The Associated Press that found weaknesses in surplus-sale security that allowed buyers for countries including Iran and China to surreptitiously obtain sensitive U.S. military equipment including Tomcat parts.

The Oregon Democrat’s legislation would ban the Defense Department from selling surplus F-14 parts and prohibit buyers who have already acquired surplus Tomcat parts from exporting them. Wyden’s bill, the Stop Arming Iran Act, is co-sponsored by the Senate’s No. 2 lawmaker, Democratic Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois.

The surplus sales are one of the first national security issues to be addressed by the new Democratic-controlled Congress.

“It just defies common sense to be making this kind of equipment available to the Iranians with all that they have done that is against our interests,” Wyden said Monday in an interview, adding that constituents brought up the surplus-sale security problems at his town-hall meetings over the past few days. “I just want to legislate this and cut it off permanently, once and for all.”

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By Ruth Wilson, January 30, 2007 at 10:52 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

When did Iran last send spy planes over the US..or attack another country?  It seems to me the last war Iran fought happened when the USA bankrolled Sadaam Hussien and sent him to pick a fight with Iran...for about 7 years...If we want to start getting choosy about who may buy our weapons of human destruction (what else do we export?) we ought to have a look at who is most likely to use them on their neighbors...probably not Iran. So far, every thing Iran has done that is treated by Wash. as a threat to us, has actually been defensive.

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By Dr. Knowitall, PhD, PhD, January 30, 2007 at 7:48 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

It sounds very American, doesn’t it, to sell or give something to someone and then, when the thing craps the bed, to be “out of” or no longer manufacture parts.  It’s not really very nice to withhold parts from our former friends.  What we might do, in the meantime, is keep this in mind and be careful about the “friends” we sell to this year, since they could be--and probably will be--our enemies next year at the rate our government is making enemies.  DUH!?  Why does it keep coming out how inept we are?  Less than 3rd grade mentality.  I suggest a rider on Weyden’s bill for a universal ban on weapons/parts sales until we figure out where we stand.  Before this is all over, Isreal may be gunning for us.

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By Rodney Matthews, January 29, 2007 at 7:23 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Follow the money. I bet whoever making money off of the sale of the parts contributed to somebody’s campaign. That’s the dirty secret in Washington ,pay off the right politican and you can make money even if it put out national security at risk. Kind of like when Cheney ran Halliburton, money was made from all kinds of nations we were prohibited from doing business with. With power and money people tend to look the other way, Our country is thoroughly corrupt as long as you don’t get caught which most of them don’t. Jsck Abranoff is only the tip of the corruption that goes on in this country. And the Corruption starts with the most vile,unethical,immoral adminstration this nation has ever seen. Bush and Cheney.

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By DennisD, January 29, 2007 at 6:58 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Let me get this straight. How long as Iran been in our Fuhrer’s “axis of evil”. And we’ve been supplying them with replacement parts for weapons we’ve sold to them the whole time. I must be living in a parallel universe. I’d go up on the roof and scream but I do it so often no one pays attention anymore.
More proof that we have the most criminally incompetent government on the face of the planet. Anything for a buck at Bu$h Inc. I’m sure Republicans will vote against Wyden’s bill - after all it’s just good business.

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By Quy Tran, January 29, 2007 at 6:12 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Bush/Cheney and their servants conduct the war with back door opens for their own greeds and gains and forget easily national interests.

Are they patriots or traitors ?

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By Rodney Matthews, January 29, 2007 at 5:46 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

In order to allow this to go on,whoever is making money off of this deal must be a campaign contributer to Bush. That’s the big national security deception. Money and corporate profits is more important than the security of our nation. Let’s find who’s selling the parts and under whose authority.

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By Christopher Robin, January 29, 2007 at 5:44 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Interesting that our decades long embargo didn’t apply to fighter aircraft parts? Those defense contractors seem to get their money’s worth out of their lobbyists huh?…

China too?…

Sickening.

I hope this story is in error, but somehow I believe it’s not.

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