Was State Department Running Interference for Arms Dudes, Withholding Info?

[babylonsister]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/201259.php

Was State Running Interference for Arms Dudes?

We've got some primo muck today courtesy of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). It's just too good not to squeeze into one long sentence:

The Albanian government and U.S. embassy in Tirana were working together to disguise from the NYT that China was the country of origin for the ammunition that our favorite 20-something Florida arms dealers were buying from an Albanian arms dealer and shipping to Afghanistan under a U.S. government contract, for which same dudes were indicted last week for violating the Arms Export Control Act.

I know, I know. Too much fun.

We've got the whole deal laid out at TPMmuckraker.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/waxman_says_us_embassy_in_alba.php

Waxman Says U.S. Embassy in Albania Concealed Info About Arms Shipment
By Andrew Tilghman - June 23, 2008, 1:03PM

Was the State Department involved in a shoddy and potentially illegal ammo shipment that led to the arrest of a 22-year-old Miami arms dealer last week?

That's what Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) now says. The House oversight committee says it has evidence that the U.S. embassy in Albania helped Albanian officials keep the allegedly illegal shipment of Chinese-made ammunition to Afghanistan under wraps and then failed to disclose that information when Waxman's committee asked about it.

Last week we updated you about the arrest of Efraim Diveroli and three of his business partners with AEY Inc. Federal prosecutors say he violated the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits buying and selling weapons from certain countries, including China. The ammunition in question was obtained by AEY from an Albanian arms dealer.

Waxman's new-- and potentially explosive -- evidence stems from an interview by the oversight committee of Army Maj. Larry Harrison, the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Albania. Harrison told the committee about a previously undisclosed November meeting that included Albanian officials and U.S. Ambassador John Withers and others from the U.S. embassy in Tirana.

more...

[ColbertWatcher]

1. I'm going to say YES.

Hell, didn't the GOP classify Blackwater members "diplomats" or at the very least State Dept. employees?

[Virginia Dare]

2. I'm sure there is a sizable percentage of "State Department" employees

who are actually spooks.

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Probably, especially with the GOP in charge. n/t