Truthdig - Ear to the Ground - Defense Contractor Jeopardized U.S. Soldiers

			November 22, 2009 Log in / Register
			Text Size

Intelligentsia Against Intelligence

Throw the Money Changers Out of the Temple

Obama's Job Approval Slips Below 50 Percent

Claire Wasserman on Europe's Islamic Immigrants

Battlefield in the War of Ideas

Battlefield in the War of Ideas
By Eugene Robinson

Intelligentsia Against Intelligence
By David Sirota

Enough G-2 Talk Already
By William Pfaff

Despite Subsidies, Class Sizes Rise in California Schools
By Louis Freedberg and Hugo Cabrera, California Watch

Obama’s Job Approval Slips Below 50 Percent

Iran to Test Its Readiness

Brit Warns Against Leaving Afghanistan

Obama Warns of Iran Sanctions

Lou Dobbs for President?

YouTube Videos to Wear Captions

‘Left, Right & Center’: The Geithner-Summers Backlash; Is Palin Dangerous?

Throw the Money Changers Out of the Temple

Yuletide Weirdness With Your Host, Bob Dylan

Hedges and Friends Debate Illusion, Conservatism and 9/11

Freedom’s Fight: Part II
By Gary Phillips

Claire Wasserman on Europe’s Islamic Immigrants
By Claire Wasserman

Oprah Sets Her Show’s Expiration Date

Behold the Food of the Future

Financial Meltdown 101

A Dig compiled by the editors of Truthdig

Vetting Sarah Palin

A Dig compiled by the editors of Truthdig

Defense Contractor Jeopardized U.S. Soldiers

inhs.info

ITT, the premier night vision equipment supplier to the U.S. military, will pay $100 million in fines for violating the Arms Exports Control Act by sending sensitive information to China, Singapore and Britain without permission. The U.S. attorney in charge of the case said American soldiers were the “principal victims of ITT’s crimes.”

Thanks to John Lemke for the tip!

CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN)—The leading manufacturer of night vision gear for the Defense Department has admitted sending classified materials overseas and will pay a $100 million penalty, according to federal prosecutors, who say the actions of ITT Corp. have jeopardized the security of U.S. soldiers.

ITT, based in Roanoke, Va., exported classified or sensitive technical data to China, Singapore and Britain without having obtained authorization from the United States, prosecutors said.

The conviction is the first involving a major defense contractor violating the Arms Export Control Act, prosecutors said.

Saying that American soldiers are “the principal victims of ITT’s crimes,” U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said he has structured the $100 million penalty so that half of the money is spent by ITT to develop a next-generation night vision system and “ensure that our soldiers have the best night vision equipment in the world.”

Read more

More Below the Ad

Advertisement

TAGS: contractor crime defense economy exports itt law military night vision

Related Entries

November 21, 2009 Obama’s Job Approval Slips Below 50 Percent
November 20, 2009 Battlefield in the War of Ideas
November 20, 2009 Intelligentsia Against Intelligence
November 19, 2009 Despite Subsidies, Class Sizes Rise in California Schools
November 19, 2009 Enough G-2 Talk Already

Email to a friend

Get truth delivered to
your inbox every week.

Previous item: Senate Approves Iraq Timetable

Next item: CIA: North Korea Blew Nuke Test

Elsewhere: .

Comments

Are you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.

By DennisD, March 28, 2007 at 9:32 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

$100 Million - just another tax write-off for ITT and a little bad publicity that will quickly be forgotten. Multi-national corporations know no loyalty to any country. They trade in dollars and dollars cost lives. That’s a trade-off our world’s corporate masters will take anytime.

Report this

By Rodney, March 28, 2007 at 5:04 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

The real question is How many other weapons or technology is killing our soldiers. We’ll never know.

Report this

By fiskhus jim, March 28, 2007 at 2:50 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

The felonies, murders and other crimes committed in Chile (and in D.C.) by Kissinger and the others were at the request of ITT, too.

Treason for Profit is a GOP tradition.

Report this

By FrostedFlakes, March 28, 2007 at 12:43 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

And this surprises whom? This entire pre-emptive war was for no other purpose than to fatten the pockets of war profiteers. That includes the oil companies, contract security companies, weapon manufacturers, Halliburton, and most assuredly politicians themselves. Fining these criminals does nothing, they have made ten-fold the fines beforehand. I say criminal prosecution for all involved, beginning at the White house.

Report this

By James Yell, March 28, 2007 at 9:56 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

It is an old story and a new story. If it makes profit, it doesn’t get more than a slap on the wrist. Our military is being held hostage to the profits of the oil industry and that is only the tip of the ice berg. Meaningful punishment would be disolving the corporations and putting the assets to public use. If they were doing anything productive, sell the assets to a more honest group. Now that is a thought.

Report this

By Margaret Currey, March 28, 2007 at 8:25 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

When will war not be an option, last night on Charlie Rose he interviewed Madeline Allbright and she knows more about the world than George the man who would be king.

So on and on it goes, this is a capatalist country and GWB is the most corporate/oil president we have ever had, the man’s last two years will be a disaster, if the had any sense he should resign but he will not do that.

The congress should impeach the Bush Administration and the procedings should start now.

Margaret from Vancouver, Washington

Report this

By vet240, March 27, 2007 at 10:32 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Not good enough. Someone should go to prison for a long time for Supplying potential terrorist groups.

Report this

By Terry Sloth, March 27, 2007 at 8:41 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Sell it there; sells it here, were arms merchants will sell it anywhere!

Our loyalty is to our pocket the U.S. military can go F_ _K it!

Report this

By Bert, March 27, 2007 at 8:08 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

“War is a racket”-Smedley Butler, Gen., USMC