US gave $300m arms contract to 22-year-old with criminal record

[babsbunny]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/28/afghanistan.usa

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington The Guardian, Friday March 28 2008 Article historyAbout this articleClose This article appeared in the Guardian on Friday March 28 2008 on p18 of the International section. It was last updated at 00:14 on March 28 2008. The Pentagon entrusted a 22-year-old previously arrested for domestic violence and having a forged driving licence to be the main supplier of ammunition to Afghan forces at the height of the battle against the Taliban, it was reported yesterday.

AEY, essentially a one-man operation based in an unmarked office in Miami Beach, Florida, was awarded a contract worth $300m (£150m) to supply the Afghan army and police in January last year. But as the New York Times reported in a lengthy investigation, AEY's president, Efraim Diversoli, 22, supplied stock that was 40 years old and rotting packing material.

"Much of the ammunition comes from the ageing stockpiles of the old communist bloc, including stockpiles that the state department and Nato have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed," the paper said.

[merwin]

1. Florida...

nothing more needs to be said.

[Squatch]

2. One of Murphy's Laws of Combat

"Always remember that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder"

[east texas lib]

3. Ah yes...

The fabled "efficiency" of the private sector at work!

[SteinbachMB]

4. Michael Savage

...talked about this story last night. He was beside himself with befuddlement.