By Cliff Montgomery – June 7th, 2009
“Terrorists and foreign governments regularly [find ways] to obtain sensitive dual-use and military technologyfrom manufacturers and distributors within the United States,” according to a recent GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO) study.
The report was delivered on June 4th to the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for the Energyand Commerce Committee. It was submitted as the testimony of Gregory Kutz, GAO Managing Director ofForensic Audits and Special Investigations.
The American Spark below quotes the summary of this shocking report.
“Terrorists and foreign governments regularly attempt to obtain sensitive dual-use and military technology frommanufacturers and distributors within the United States. Although the Department of State (State) orDepartment of Commerce (Commerce), or both, must grant approval to export sensitive military and dual-useitems, publicly reported criminal cases show that individuals can bypass this requirement and illegally exportrestricted items such as night-vision goggles.
“In the wrong hands, this technology poses a risk to U.S. security, including the threat that it will be reverseengineered or used directly against U.S. soldiers.
“Given the threat, the subcommittee asked GAO to conduct undercover tests to attempt to
(1) purchase sensitive dual-use and military items from manufacturers and distributors in the United States,and
(2) export purchased items without detection by domestic law-enforcement officials.
“To perform this work, GAO used fictitious individuals, a bogus front company, and domestic mailboxes to poseas a buyer for sensitive items. GAO, in coordination with foreign law-enforcement officials, also covertlyattempted to export dummy versions of items. GAO interviewed relevant agencies to gain an understanding ofwhich items were in demand by terrorists and foreign governments. GAO actions were not designed to testcontrols of other countries. Relevant agencies were also briefed on the results of this work.
“GAO found that sensitive dual-use and military technology can be easily and legally purchased frommanufacturers and distributors within the United States and illegally exported without detection.
“Using a bogus front company and fictitious identities, GAO purchased sensitive items including night-visionscopes currently used by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan to identify targets, triggered spark gaps used todetonate nuclear weapons, electronic sensors used in improvised explosive devices, and gyro chips used inguided missiles and military aircraft.
“Interviews with cognizant officials at State and Commerce and a review of laws governing the sale of thetypes of items GAO purchased showed there are few restrictions on domestic sales of these items.
“GAO was also able to export a number of dummy versions of these items using the mail to a country that is aknown transshipment point for terrorist organizations and foreign governments attempting to acquire sensitivetechnology.
“Due to the large volume of packages being shipped overseas, and large volume of people traveling overseas,enforcement officials within the United States said it is impossible to search every package and person leavingthe United States to ensure sensitive technologies are not being exported illegally.
“As a result, terrorists and foreign governments that are able to complete domestic purchases of sensitivemilitary and dual-use technologies face few obstacles and risks when exporting these items.”
