The Pentagon's 2nd hand store is now open

Where does a terrorist go to get good military stuff? Well, apparently, the same place as Israel - the Pentagon.

Now, Israel has its own special service desk and a personal expediter for bombs and things, but if you can handle cash and carry, and you're willing to browse through the second-hand bins, there may be something of value.

Undercover U.S. government investigators purchased sensitive surplus military equipment such as launcher mounts for shoulder-fired missiles and guided-missile radar test sets from a Defence Department contractor.

Much of the equipment could be useful to terrorists, said a report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

In June, two GAO investigators spent $1.1 million on such equipment at two excess property warehouses.

How long has the war on terra been going on now?

"DOD has not enforced security controls for preventing sensitive excess military equipment from release to the public," the report concluded.

"GAO was able to purchase these items because controls broke down at virtually every step in the excess property turn-in and disposal process."

[...]

U.S. Representative Christopher Shays, chairman of the House of Representatives government reform committee's national security panel, will hold a hearing on the matter Tuesday. Earlier GAO reports also found lax security controls over sensitive excess military equipment.

"During previous hearings we learned DOD was a bargain basement for would-be terrorists due to lax security screening of excess military equipment," Shays said in a statement Friday.

"Based on GAO's most recent undercover investigation it looks like the store is still open."

When this kind of thing goes on it makes you realize that domestic wiretapping and snooping through one's telephone records can't really be about fighting terrorism. Clearly, the people who should be leading the charge don't really care.