Pentagon offers 'bioterror kit' online
Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday October 8, 2003
The Guardian
The Pentagon has been selling surplus laboratory equipment that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons, according to a congressional investigation released yesterday.
Defence officials were called in to answer questions before a congressional inquiry about the sale of the army surplus, which included centrifuges, evaporators, bacteriological incubators, and protective suits to unknown customers in other countries, including Egypt and the Philippines, where terrorist groups have been known to operate.
The news is particularly embarrassing, coming only days after the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group claimed the discovery of similar equipment in Iraq was evidence that the Saddam Hussein regime had a covert weapons programme.
"The cheap, virtually unregulated availability of low-cost biological laboratory equipment poses a risk to national security," said Christopher Shays, the Republican congressman chairing the inquiry. "The department of defence should not be a discount shopping outlet for would-be bioterrorists."
The Pentagon's sale of the surplus equipment was uncovered by Congress's general accounting office (GAO) which conducted a sting operation, setting up a dummy company to buy laboratory equipment online on a Pentagon website.
The GAO found that the defence department did not check the background of its customers. Most of the equipment being sold was available commercially but the Pentagon was selling it at bargain prices. The GAO bought $46,000 (£27,500) worth of equipment for just over $4,000 (£2,400).
A Pentagon spokesman said sales had been stopped pending the outcome of the inquiry.
Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday October 8, 2003
The Guardian
The Pentagon has been selling surplus laboratory equipment that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons, according to a congressional investigation released yesterday.
Defence officials were called in to answer questions before a congressional inquiry about the sale of the army surplus, which included centrifuges, evaporators, bacteriological incubators, and protective suits to unknown customers in other countries, including Egypt and the Philippines, where terrorist groups have been known to operate.
The news is particularly embarrassing, coming only days after the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group claimed the discovery of similar equipment in Iraq was evidence that the Saddam Hussein regime had a covert weapons programme.
"The cheap, virtually unregulated availability of low-cost biological laboratory equipment poses a risk to national security," said Christopher Shays, the Republican congressman chairing the inquiry. "The department of defence should not be a discount shopping outlet for would-be bioterrorists."
The Pentagon's sale of the surplus equipment was uncovered by Congress's general accounting office (GAO) which conducted a sting operation, setting up a dummy company to buy laboratory equipment online on a Pentagon website.
The GAO found that the defence department did not check the background of its customers. Most of the equipment being sold was available commercially but the Pentagon was selling it at bargain prices. The GAO bought $46,000 (£27,500) worth of equipment for just over $4,000 (£2,400).
A Pentagon spokesman said sales had been stopped pending the outcome of the inquiry.
