Posted on 01/14/2006 12:07:20 AM PST by ScaniaBoy
Britain and America are furious with Austria for exporting to Iran 800 sniper rifles that could be used against their troops in Iraq.
HS50 Steyr-Mannlicher .50 calibre rifles can pierce body armour from up to a mile, shoot down helicopters and penetrate Humvee troop carriers that have not been fully reinforced.
The weapons are highly accurate and fire a round called an armour-piercing incendiary, a bullet that the Iranians manufacture.
There are fears in the Pentagon that some will reach insurgents fighting allied forces in Iraq.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard is suspected of passing on bomb-making technology to Iraqi terrorists responsible for infra-red bombs that have killed 10 British soldiers.
A Foreign Office spokesman said there were "serious concerns" over the rifle sale and London had protested to Vienna.
"Although we did make our worries known, the sale has unfortunately gone ahead and these weapons could now fall into the wrong hands," he said.
Iran allegedly bought the rifles to combat drug smugglers pouring through the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The order, worth an estimated £8 million, was placed with Steyr last year and the company was given government permission to export the weapons.
A spokesman for Austria's interior ministry said there was no reason to stop the deal.
Iran is said to be re-arming after a £455 million deal with Russia for missiles and radar to ward off any air strikes on its nuclear facilities.
Ahh the Germans and Austrians. They have changed little in 65 years.
The point is, many developed countries sell arms of all sorts to all sorts of shady countries/entities and we're right there in the thick of that business.
Shades of "The Great Spermanator!"
Little Diomede Island - Big Diomede Island about 6 miles...
My mother always reminded me that US companies had sold scrap metal to the Japanese, including the remains of defunct elevated train track in NYC, that were "shot back at our boys during WWII".
I wonder how much of the stuff sold by the US to Iran is still in stockpiles, ready to hand out to terrorists or Islamist thugs backing the current regime?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair
Austria is no more, and no less, involved in the international arms trade, to the possible detriment of our troops, or their own interests in future conflicts, than the US and the other participants in the globabl arms trade are. There are always plenty of "players" willing to sell armaments to both sides in the various international rumbles that develop between nations in our global anarchic world. This is regretable, but to be expected as long as the anarchy exists. That's the nature of the beast.
For the record, as nasty as it is, I prefer the global anarchy above the level of the nation-state to the imposition of a top-down "world state" operated by the likes of the stinking kleptocrats who infest the halls of the UN bureaucracies. Anarchy must be cured from the "bottom up", beginning with individual self-government, followed by growing influence of self-governed individuals working up the chain of natural hierarchies, driving "order at the top". Top-down "solutions" are inevitably utopian monstrosities that ultimately collapse as their internal contradictions devour them. Recent example, the former USSR.
Incidentally, most on this forum will also be aware of
Chinagate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinagate
The way this article is being "tagged for bias" just indicates the dominant axe grinding tendencies at this source.
The Europeans and many Money Makers are always willing to jeopardize American lives for a profit, but eventually when Iran starts nuking, money won't matter anymore.
It firmed up my view that we can't win by respecting their culture. Can you imagine us trying to win WWII by "respecting" the Germans adherence to Nazi ideology, their insistence on the superiority of the German race, their beliefs in racial purity, allowing Nazi signs and symbols to be sold, and encouraging the continued publication of "Der Stürmer" and its anti-semitic rantings because we want to encourage press freedom?
You have no idea how close to the truth your comment is. Things like this will happen more often. Unfortunately, and I'm certainly not defending them, they are buying these things from anywhere they can get them. At least if its made in China/Russia it may be less accurate.
As far as Kerry goes, well, he is no worse than Jane Fonda. Enough said.
The North Koreans and the Chinese have provided Iran with the missiles.
So have the Russians.
The SRBMs and MRBMs are mostly North Korean, and Chinese. Most of their anti-aircraft missiles are Russian.
SCUD missiles were Russian designs.
While I was there, I got to noticing how mamy containers had various Chinese names on them (in English).
It dawned on me that ICBM's would not be necessary for a sneak attack. Just ship a few dozen to various cities, military installations etc.
But the No Dong(?) class of missiles ar a far greater threat than the outdated scuds. The Chinese have also provided better guidance systems to them.
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