How can we expect to secure our borders or win the war on terror when we can’t even prevent the sale of sensitive military equipment to those who may use it to harm us?

The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries – including Iran and China – who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department’s surplus auctions. The sales include fighter jet parts and missile components.

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“That would be evidence of a significant breakdown, in my view, in controls and processes,” said Greg Kutz, the Government Accountability Office’s head of special investigations. “It shouldn’t happen the first time, let alone the second time.”

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The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found it alarmingly easy to acquire sensitive surplus. Last year, its agents bought $1.1 million worth – including rocket launchers, body armor and surveillance antennas – by driving onto a base and posing as defense contractors.

“They helped us load our van,” Kutz said. Investigators used a fake identity to access a surplus Web site operated by a Pentagon contractor and bought still more, including a dozen microcircuits used on F-14 fighters.

The undercover buyers received phone calls from the Defense Department asking why they had no Social Security number or credit history, but they deflected the questions by presenting a phony utility bill and claiming to be an identity theft victim.

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