WASHINGTON [MENL] — The United States, in what was regarded as a breach of national security, continues to ship classified military hardware to foreign clients in the Middle East.

Officials said the Defense Department has acknowledged the export of classified military hardware to U.S. allies in the Middle East and other regions. They said the banned hardware was shipped inadvertently because of sloppy accounting and the authority by officials to override export bans.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, asserted that the Pentagon failed to control the export of classified and controlled spare parts. The GAO said in a November 2004 report that the transfer of banned hardware to foreign clients marked a “systemic problem” in the U.S. military.

“Preventing the inadvertent release of classified and controlled spare parts that are not authorized for release under blanket orders to foreign countries deserves the highest level of management attention,” the report said.

NOTE: The above is not the full item. This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please contact Middle East Newsline at: editor@menewsline.com for further details.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 28th, 2005 and is filed under news.