In January 2007, Iraqi insurgents sneaked inside a US Military base in Karbala in a deadly raid that killed five US Servicemen. The insurgents were in complete US Military uniforms that were authentic down to the last stitch. There is no trace of where and how these uniforms were obtained. Today, the US Government Accountability Office discovered, by posing as buyers, that they could purchase a dozen prohibited military items on E-Bay and Craigslist.
The items purchased could have easily been delivered somewhere in the Middle East,
perhaps to the camps of the insurgents or Al Qaeda, and could be used directly against US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The items include Night Vision Goggles made according to special military specifications that could identify US troops at night time, Army combat uniforms, specially enhanced body armor vests that are not made available to the public, and F-14 Fighter Jet components. The US has retired its F-14 planes, and only Iran is using these currently.
E-Bay's excuse is that it handles 113 million items and around 7 million others are added daily, but banned items manage to get through their control mechanisms. Craigslist stated that they use similar measures and relies on users to police the site as it has only 25 employees. The items are alleged to have been stolen and sold on these online selling sites, but when and how these were taken could not be ascertained.
America is spending around 3 billion dollars weekly on the war in Iraq, and yet it's
forces are put in harms way by commercializing items that could penetrate soldiers' ranks and decimate their number; as well as damage their equipment, obtain weapons and ammunition and demoralize their ranks. This mindless lust to make profit from stolen items that would put young soldiers' lives in peril is not only unpatriotic but scales the level of treason. If the excuse that it is difficult to monitor items put up for sale is to be accepted, it is tantamount to accepting that the lives of the soldiers are dispensable in the name of profit. Craigslist's claim that it relies on users to police the site is pathetically lame and utterly irresponsible. Suspension of operations until the sites can be cleared of such items and an assurance that these would be effectively policed is the least that could be demanded from these online sites.
The worst part of this whole caper is that most of these items were stolen from US Military facilities, and a Defense Department Official admits that "They don't even know if they have the ability to know, that they have a serious theft problem". The thefts can be expected to continue. The US Soldier will therefore lay his life on the line fighting for his country and its way of life, suffering to diligently and effectively perform his duty, only to have all these difficulties traded in his own country's websites, sacrificed to obtain profits from theft. If this is the way America treats its heroes, it will only have mercenaries to rely on in the future; if not unscrupulous businessmen of dubious integrity.
Haaaarrrwwwwk...Twooooooph...Ting!
The items purchased could have easily been delivered somewhere in the Middle East,
perhaps to the camps of the insurgents or Al Qaeda, and could be used directly against US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The items include Night Vision Goggles made according to special military specifications that could identify US troops at night time, Army combat uniforms, specially enhanced body armor vests that are not made available to the public, and F-14 Fighter Jet components. The US has retired its F-14 planes, and only Iran is using these currently.
E-Bay's excuse is that it handles 113 million items and around 7 million others are added daily, but banned items manage to get through their control mechanisms. Craigslist stated that they use similar measures and relies on users to police the site as it has only 25 employees. The items are alleged to have been stolen and sold on these online selling sites, but when and how these were taken could not be ascertained.
America is spending around 3 billion dollars weekly on the war in Iraq, and yet it's
forces are put in harms way by commercializing items that could penetrate soldiers' ranks and decimate their number; as well as damage their equipment, obtain weapons and ammunition and demoralize their ranks. This mindless lust to make profit from stolen items that would put young soldiers' lives in peril is not only unpatriotic but scales the level of treason. If the excuse that it is difficult to monitor items put up for sale is to be accepted, it is tantamount to accepting that the lives of the soldiers are dispensable in the name of profit. Craigslist's claim that it relies on users to police the site is pathetically lame and utterly irresponsible. Suspension of operations until the sites can be cleared of such items and an assurance that these would be effectively policed is the least that could be demanded from these online sites.
The worst part of this whole caper is that most of these items were stolen from US Military facilities, and a Defense Department Official admits that "They don't even know if they have the ability to know, that they have a serious theft problem". The thefts can be expected to continue. The US Soldier will therefore lay his life on the line fighting for his country and its way of life, suffering to diligently and effectively perform his duty, only to have all these difficulties traded in his own country's websites, sacrificed to obtain profits from theft. If this is the way America treats its heroes, it will only have mercenaries to rely on in the future; if not unscrupulous businessmen of dubious integrity.Haaaarrrwwwwk...Twooooooph...Ting!
