2007年VOA标准英语-Pentagon Accidentally Sold Parts for Iranian Fi

By Al Pessin
Washington
02 August 2007

Investigators² from the U.S. Congress say earlier this year the Defense³ Department sold nearly 1,400 collections of surplus parts that can be used in aging fighter jets now only flown by Iran, in spite of a ban on such sales.  But VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon an official says nearly all the items have been recovered and most were ordinary hardware.

The report from the Government Accountability Office says the parts were sold in February, the month after the ban was imposed, due to an error by a defense department contractor⁴.  The report says the contracting company tried to remove the parts from a website it uses to sell surplus military equipment, but the effort failed.

demolition5 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Monday, June 11, 2007, in Tucson, Arizona" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070804/1032570.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Several of the 'mothballed' F-14 Tomcat fighter jets await demolition at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Monday,  in Tucson, Arizona,  11 Jun 2007

A spokesman for the defense department agency that handles such sales (the Defense Reutilization and Marketing⁶ System) says most of the material was what he calls "general hardware" that could be used in F-14 Tomcat fighters and also for a variety of other purposes.  The spokesman, Jack⁷ Hooper, says the items were not specifically designed for the F-14, and did not involve weaponry, flight controls or wing parts.

But he says 23 of the surplus lots contained items subject to export controls, meaning that the buyer could not re-sell them abroad without specific government approval.  Hooper says all but two of the groups of parts have been recovered, and the defense department is in contact with the buyers of the other two in an effort to also get them back.  He could not say what type of material is in those two lots.

The report did not say who bought the material or how much it was worth, and Hooper could not provide that information Thursday.

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman says the January ban includes anything that could be used on an F-14.

"Any parts that can be identified as being part of an F-14 to include even very simple hardware such as nuts and bolts fell under the suspension," he said.

Iran is the only country that still flies the aging fighter jets, first introduced in the mid-1970s.  Reports indicate Iran aggressively seeks spare parts to keep the planes in the air, and the congressional investigator¹ who prepared this report says high-technology circuit boards were included in a previous sale.  But the investigator, Gregory Kutz, says the Pentagon has made "real progress" in controlling its surplus sales during the last year.

The Pentagon Spokesman, Bryan Whitman, could not speak about any specific parts from this sale, but he said it is very difficult to follow what happens to surplus military equipment once the Pentagon sells it.  He says that is why the department imposed the total ban on all F-14 part sales.

"Sometimes people will buy parts for what are seemingly innocent or appropriate use, but are then sold a second or a third time in ways in which they were not intended to," he added.

The congressional investigators urge officials to further improve controls to ensure sensitive material is not sold accidentally in the future.

Whitman says the Pentagon earned nearly $2 billion from surplus sales last year, and the investigator, Gregory Kutz, says the department is also saving a lot of money by making its system more efficient so it does not sell things it needs, and then has to go out and buy again.

1 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

5 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。