I thought I no longer had the capacity to be shocked by Bush administration incompetence and/or corruption.

Turns out I was wrong.

is that his mugshot?

they will love him in jail!

hope he meets a nice jewish boy in there!

This is what privatization of government, which the GOP has advocated for years, gets you: %&#@* government!! And giant government deficits!

Drag him in front of a congressional committee so we can have video of him explaining how he got his position. It will be classic gold, probably outdoing the Alberto Gonzalez appearances.

Adam Sandberg's side gig?

taller ghost walt @ 9:

I want to know who's relative this is... Or is it one of "Rove's" boys?

Are you insinuating that Rove might be gay? Now wait a minute, that's going a little far...

...

...

I kid.

Most people have no experience with governement contracting, let alone Federal contracting. If you understood the level of scrutiny and requirements to even have your offer accepted, this story would utterly blow your mind. It is literally impossible, so I thought, that a kid could bid on a government contract while having zero experience and actually be awarded that contract. Most US companies would have great difficulty getting a contract for less than $100K because of all of the requirements and checks. To think that a kid gets a $300M contract is just outrageous.

Trust me when I tell you that there is far more to this story and this is just scratching the surface. This kid knew somebody who helped him out. That will be the real story.

"... munitions being delivered to U.S. and Afghan troops fighting on the front lines of the war on terror." One wonders if this line was being written by the Bush administration and/or the neoconservatives. Those munitions are also being used to suppress and occupy the Afghan people who, unless I am mistaken, had nothing to do with the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The Raw Story is supposed to be a liberal site but yet they have no hesitation in publishing propaganda such as this.

Bush Administration Approves This Massage Therapist … For ‘Arms’

CD @ 13:

His favorite movie are:

HEAT,BLOW,SCARFACE, FACE OFF, THE ROCK,GOFATHER, SCHINDLERS LIST,AMERICAN BEUTY ETC.....

Anyone want to do a psych analysis of him based on his picks?

My preliminary observation is that most of them are gangster films.

I wouldn't let that Neanderthal wash my car.

Consider it was planned to be a scheme to supply shoddy ammo to the Afghans from day one,
keeps the Afghan army very reliant on NATO forces for protection,
and also makes the Taliban who prob steal or buy their ammo from this stock impotent too.
Its a win win thing for NATO.
Remember NATO forces do not use AK47 ammo in their NATO guns, only the various Afghan forces use AK47s.

I think the last time I read the Preamble it didnt actually say to subcontract for the common defense.

Man, those founding father guys were prescient folk.

Theres a transcript of a conversation between Deveroli and another guy here where he's describing the deal...

http://www.albemigrant.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1206019540&ar...

Youtube is here
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=b4MCOTQCm0g

300 million dollar contract....

With 70 full time-live in volunteers we ran a 24/7 homeless shelter with 1400 beds (and lockers) for $100,000 a year.

With this kind of money we could have sheltered 4.2 million people.

Noticew any homeless people recently?

Who says it is a 'screw-up'? Looks on purpose to me: many connections to corrupt Albanian government, foreign mafia, Hong Kong, kid saying send girls to seduce buyers, 40 year Chinese ammo.

Result: many Afghan soldiers on the US side either blown up or can't defend themselves. Same result as your dead dog from the poisoned dog food and and dead granny from the fake meds: wonderful results of Pentagon outsourcing and globalization!

Somebody hooked the kid up, big time. Remember Deep Throat: "Follow the money!" (or the hookers)

Batocchio @ 25:

They've been doing this for a while, and wasteful military spending is the norm. Meanwhile, supposedly we can't fund the arts, children's health care, stem cell research or many other worthy things...

Very well said. The outstanding 2006 documentary Why We Fight also basically drives home the same point that you have made.

I don't blame Efraim. I blame his friend, Tom.

E. had it all lined up- sweet new ammo that was hella good and everything. The problem was that Tom kept E. out clubbin' all night, and Efraim totally spaced on the ammo meeting the next morning.

But Tom did man up and drive E. around to all the Wal Marts in town so E. could pick up the bullets. And E's laundry, and some Red Bull.

So don't be harsh.

Oh my gawd. That is unFRACKinbelievable! Anyone remember when the military was ordering $100 ladders and spending over 30 grand on them? Or the expensive toilet seats? Or the screws to end all screws? This is nothing new, but the amounts are just wow! How much more waste is there that will never be uncovered?

I see a three-rope hangin' here:

the skally-wag pictured,
the paid-off Pentagon General that let the contract,

and THE TWISTED LITTLE HOMBRE SITTING BEHIND THE BIG DESK IN THE WHITE HOUSE... WHERE THE "BUCK" STOPS.

Dave @ 29:

The Myspace page looks like a fake. He doesn't even have 1 friend.

Correct, arms dealers dont advertise like this or have myspace webpages.
its a shady introvert quiet profession, lived by people who like anonymity and avoiding the MSM spotlight.

I saw his My Space page. He must be a good guy - I trust Tom's exclusive taste in friends.

mudshark @ 41:

Andy K Jong Il @ 36:

I don't blame Efraim. I blame his friend, Tom.

E. had it all lined up- sweet new ammo that was hella good and everything. The problem was that Tom kept E. out clubbin' all night, and Efraim totally spaced on the ammo meeting the next morning.

But Tom did man up and drive E. around to all the Wal Marts in town so E. could pick up the bullets. And E's laundry, and some Red Bull.

So don't be harsh.

and it's cheaper too.

Dude! Like, totally, bro. Tom drives a Prius, so the gas was like, so cheap!

mcnote5150 @ 19:

Who's his daddy? Sounds like a shell game to me. A front shop. The lessons of Haliburton/KBR and Enron are alive and well. Bush Inc makes Grant's presidency look immaculate even holy in comparison. Bush Inc gives the Mafia a bad name. The new and improved Murder Inc for WASPs.

See: Blackwater....seems they have a youngster in charge, too.

ferrofluid @ 42:

Dave @ 29:

The Myspace page looks like a fake. He doesn't even have 1 friend.

Correct, arms dealers dont advertise like this or have myspace webpages.
its a shady introvert quiet profession, lived by people who like anonymity and avoiding the MSM spotlight.

I find his myspace page about as believable as the Al Qaeda tapes that magically appear at all too convenient times. Doesn't add up. What's next, is OBL gonna have his own page on Myspace or Facebook? Something sounds way too weird here and conveniently found. Besides the story says 7 reporters worked on this. Reporters-doing journalism? Ya, right.

bearclaw @ 47:

What I find truly bizarre is that it looks like what he got in trouble for was providing ammunition that didn't meet "specifications." Apparently, he had promised ammo made in Hungary from 1965-1975, and instead provided ammo made in the People's Republic of China between 1962 and 1974. In other words, the problem wasn't really the age of the ammo, it was that he violated regulations against providing munitions made in communist China.

I don't even own a gun, and never want to. So here is my naive question: why would the US want 30-40 year old ammunition, even for the Afghan police and army? Is ammunition that old still reliable? Do they need "old" ammo because it fits with their "old" weapons? Is there ANY rationale?

I'm assuming that it's ammo for AK-47's. The entire communist world used that weapon forever, and sold them cheap to everyone and their little sisters.

bearclaw @ 47:

What I find truly bizarre is that it looks like what he got in trouble for was providing ammunition that didn't meet "specifications." Apparently, he had promised ammo made in Hungary from 1965-1975, and instead provided ammo made in the People's Republic of China between 1962 and 1974. In other words, the problem wasn't really the age of the ammo, it was that he violated regulations against providing munitions made in communist China.

I don't even own a gun, and never want to. So here is my naive question: why would the US want 30-40 year old ammunition, even for the Afghan police and army? Is ammunition that old still reliable? Do they need "old" ammo because it fits with their "old" weapons? Is there ANY rationale?

from what I have read ammo has a shelf life, and needs to be taken off first duty and only used for practice if beyond a certain age, and junked if its too old for training purposes.
mil stuff prob has longer shelf life, but not 40 years old.

Hey, If they had 40 year old Chinese ammo a few years ago, Pat Tillman might still be alive.

Andy K Jong Il @ 52:

bearclaw @ 47:

What I find truly bizarre is that it looks like what he got in trouble for was providing ammunition that didn't meet "specifications." Apparently, he had promised ammo made in Hungary from 1965-1975, and instead provided ammo made in the People's Republic of China between 1962 and 1974. In other words, the problem wasn't really the age of the ammo, it was that he violated regulations against providing munitions made in communist China.

I don't even own a gun, and never want to. So here is my naive question: why would the US want 30-40 year old ammunition, even for the Afghan police and army? Is ammunition that old still reliable? Do they need "old" ammo because it fits with their "old" weapons? Is there ANY rationale?

I'm assuming that it's ammo for AK-47's. The entire communist world used that weapon forever, and sold them cheap to everyone and their little sisters.

And I know the Afghans have a cottage industry in keeping those old guns functioning. But are bullets made in Hungary in the 1960s still going to be any good? It sounds like if he had provided Hungarian bullets from, say, 1968, Bush's bullet buyers would have been ok with that . . .

Hate Freedom Fries @ 56:

Hey, If they had 40 year old Chinese ammo a few years ago, Pat Tillman might still be alive.

Then again the soldiers who accidently killed him might be dead from a misfire or exploding bullet.

abarts @ 48:

mcnote5150 @ 19:

Who's his daddy? Sounds like a shell game to me. A front shop. The lessons of Haliburton/KBR and Enron are alive and well. Bush Inc makes Grant's presidency look immaculate even holy in comparison. Bush Inc gives the Mafia a bad name. The new and improved Murder Inc for WASPs.

See: Blackwater....seems they have a youngster in charge, too.

Erik Prince isn't that young (mid 30's, iirc)...And he isn't a dumbass, either. Not that I've got Prince's back- I DON'T- but he's local, and I know a few people who know him. He's a fucking shark, who's dad was rich, and who's brother-in-law is Rich DeVos. Prince was the valedictorian at a very good (private, Christian Reformed) high school.

igor @ 61:

Mafia, shady arms dealers, globalization, blackwater... Wait, something's missing. Is there any way we can tie the Zionists to this story?

Explain your point, if you would. Please.

He probably called that telephone number advertised on TV by that guy with the quetion mark tie. Who knew you would get pipelined right to the Defense Dept.

Andy K Jong Il @ 62:

abarts @ 48:

mcnote5150 @ 19:
Erik Prince isn't that young (mid 30's, iirc)...And he isn't a dumbass, either. Not that I've got Prince's back- I DON'T- but he's local, and I know a few people who know him. He's a fucking shark, who's dad was rich, and who's brother-in-law is Rich DeVos. Prince was the valedictorian at a very good (private, Christian Reformed) high school.

High school valedictorian, eh? Wow...

Dave @ 29:

The Myspace page looks like a fake. He doesn't even have 1 friend.

Yeah, I'm with ya Dave. I fail to see how a 22 year old "nice guy" who can't spell could put together a ammunition supply operation, successfully quote and win business from the Pentagon.
Where did dude even come up with 300 million worth of shoddy ammo?

This dog... it does not hunt.

Larry Craig's intern by any chance?

Stuart Bedasso @ 59:

There may be some hearings, but (and seriously, tell me if I'm wrong) has anyone actually gone to jail yet because of the deified Mr. Waxman? If there have been actual consequences handed out, or even something close to them, I'd like to know.

Yeah, Waxman has basically been useless. He holds hearings and issues threats and nothing happens.

Correct me if there's been any actual consequences.

This kid should be spread-eagled over a jail-cell bunk right now.

They are deliberately destroying the government's ability to function so they can get rid of it.
They do not want govt regulations on business, on exploration, on the environment.
They do not want govt taxing them.
They do not want govt preventing religious groups from writing our laws.
They do not want govt maintaining infrastructure.
They want the infrastructure to fall apart so they can point and say "The govt is no good! We need to privatize roads and bridges!" Then they get to control travel inside the country.
These people are subversives.
Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin called themselves subversives but they didn't even know the meaning of the word.
These guys who are running the govt into the ground are the most dangerous subversives America has ever faced.
They've bought and paid for all branches of the gvt.

igor @ 68:

Andy K Jong Il @ 62:

abarts @ 48:

mcnote5150 @ 19:
Erik Prince isn't that young (mid 30's, iirc)...And he isn't a dumbass, either. Not that I've got Prince's back- I DON'T- but he's local, and I know a few people who know him. He's a fucking shark, who's dad was rich, and who's brother-in-law is Rich DeVos. Prince was the valedictorian at a very good (private, Christian Reformed) high school.

High school valedictorian, eh? Wow...

You're making me link to the Grand Rapids Press. I don't enjoy doing this. I really don't.

This is the same pentegon that looses millions if not billions as a matter of course and says it cannot pay the troops more because it would be a strain on the budget??
They do not even have to account for what they spent something is truly screwed up with this country

$5 American says that this guy went to a bible-based diploma mill somewhere.

its worse

age 19 in 2005 and doing the arms dealing to the Pentagon, this is a teenager not a twenty something.

On Dec. 21, 2006, the police were called back to the condominium. Mr. Diveroli and AEY’s vice president, David M. Packouz, had just been in a fight with the valet parking attendant.

The fight began, the police said, after the attendant refused to give Mr. Diveroli his keys and Mr. Diveroli entered the garage to get them himself. A witness said Mr. Diveroli and Mr. Packouz both beat the man; police photographs showed bruises and scrapes on his face and back.

When the police searched Mr. Diveroli, they found he had a forged driver’s license that added four years to his age and made him appear old enough to buy alcohol as a minor. His birthday had been the day before.

“I don’t even need that any more,” he told the police, the report said. “I’m 21 years old.”

Mr. Diveroli was charged with simple battery, a misdemeanor, and felony possession of a stolen or forged document.

Yes, thank god for Henry Waxman and his non-binding, self-congratulatory tongue lashings. That kid will be so humiliated walking out of that court room as the same millionaire that he walked in as...
Recall, he heads the same Judiciary subcommitee that deemed it necessary to hold hearings on such all-too important topics such as video-game violence and MLB steroid use. He and his colleagues are impotent and imcompetent.
I do not have words to describe my feelings for anyone that has faith in such people to deliver anything but further dysfunction.

page two he was 17 or 18 in 2004 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Public records show that AEY’s contracts since 2004 have potentially been worth more than a third of a billion dollars. Mr. Diveroli set the value higher: he claimed to do $200 million in business each year.

Several military officers and government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the investigations, questioned how Mr. Diveroli, and a small group of men principally in their 20s and without extensive military or procurement experiences, landed so much vital government work.

“A lot of us are asking the question,” said a senior State Department official. “How did this guy get all this business?”

My favorite bit from the Raw Story link:

As Mr. Diveroli began to fill the Army’s huge orders, he was entering a shadowy world, and in his brief interview he suggested that he was aware that corruption could intrude on his dealings in Albania. “What goes on in the Albanian Ministry of Defense?” he said. “Who’s clean? Who’s dirty? Don’t want to know about it.”

Dude, you don't wanna know about it. Efraim's just sayin'...

this could be the story that the MSM cant ignore and shines the ridicule spotlight on the WH and the Restoopidians once and for all.
How can anybody take GWB, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and all those other stupid F&^%ers seriously if they buy munitions from 18 year old kids who run their company from a basement and Myspace.

This is beyond stupidity, its firmly in the realm of criminal incompetence, and perfect grounds for impeachment for Chimpy and Shooter.

We all know that outsourcing is the Republican mantra, but outsourcing the 'GWOT' to Teenygoppers in their basement is beyond insane.

Not that it is much consolation but much of this defective ammo probably went to Afghan soldiers rather than U.S. ones. The guy bought the ammo from a variety of sources within the now defunct Warsaw pact. As most Afghan soldiers use weapons produced in the former Soviet Union, this makes a degree of sense since you need the approprite ammunition for the appropriate weapon. However, the fact that he shipped ammunition found in Albania that was made in the 1960s indicates that he bypassed many of the tests that the the United States military and its NATO allies use when purchasing this type of ammunition. If I remember correctly, militaries give existing stocks of munitions continued tests once they are 10 years old.

How many quaaludes does a guy have to snort before they start drug testing the defense contractors? Cause that guy couldn't pass a drug test with my piss, and I have been out of rehab for almost 7 years now.

Boy, just when you think the Bush Administration couldn't top its own incompetence. I am forwarding this story to several of my fellow veterans. I litteraly broke out laughing when I read this story but I'm sure that the military in Afghanistan isn't laughing. Hell, that kid probably doesn't even know what ammunition each weapon uses. Hell, he probably hasn't even SEEN those weapons. As incompetent as this Administration is, that kid probably sent the U.S. military arrows and spears.

Andy K Jong Il @ 95:

ferrofluid @ 93:

I wonder if Congress will pause their interest in sweaty muscled steroided sports stars and concentrate on some serious corruption for a change !

Are those hearings actually still going on?

its of vital national importance, drug free sports doncha know, more important than anything else.
I mean 'the xtains didnt need steroids when they got eaten by the lions' so why do modern... blah blah blah

Roket @ 97:

Efraim looked boring so I checked out his lone friend Tom. Tom has 230,320,532 friends. Tom is in Kuwait. Some of Tom’s favorite films: Lawrence of Arabia, Ben Hur, Spartacus, Gladiator & Urban Cowboy. I see a pattern here.

Also, Bob@31 has an interesting link. AEY Inc. is efraim’s company.

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/298m-to-aey-for-ammo-in-afghanistan-...

If you page down, under “Top 5 Known Congressional Districts where Work is Performed” note whose congressional district gets all this work, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Now that is a strange coincidence. I wonder if this has anything to do with Debbie suddenly turning into a Republican lap dog.

This story definitely has legs. I fully expect the MSM to report on this immediately, NOT!!

I don't think you can pin any of this on his Democratic Congresswoman. She can't point at an arms dealer and say, "Look at all these jobs I created," because he's only middling a deal between an Albanian Company that is sitting on 40 year old bullets and US and allied forces in Afghanistan.

Nope, she's outta the loop on this one. Efraim's cousin is probably a buddy of Monica Goodling. 'Cause that's how the network networks in BushCo World.

To build upon my earlier comment...the fact that the bulk of this ammunition went to Afghan allies of the United States does little if anything to improve the situation. What must Afghan soldiers think about American support for their efforts if they receive ammunition produced almost 50 years ago? Do you think they will just dismiss it as government incompetence? Or, will they see it as a sign that the United States government does not give a damn what happens to them? I think the latter option is more plausible since I doubt they can fathom the possibility that their ally is just too stupid to test and inspect ammunition before sending it along.

nsr @ 101:

Sounds like that story in The Onion a while ago-- "U.S. Ambassador to Bulungi Suspected of Making the Country Up".

yes, if this was on a TV comedy nobody would take its seriously

On the internet, nobody knows if you're a dog.

gorobei @ 108:

On the internet, nobody knows if you're a dog.

except that guy who got world famous last year with the dead dog on sombodys front lawn in broad daylight.

Not caring about Afghanistan is no surprise. Iraq was planned long before 9/11; PNAC was formulated in 1992 by Cheyney and Wolfowitz to ensure access to Iraq's oil, and Kristol and Kagan were already talking about US world domination in 96.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3544.htm

Invasion of Iraq was talked about HOURS after 9/11 by Rumsfeld. So it again was no surprise that the administration dropped the ball in Afghanistan to concentrate on Iraq, and look at the trouble it is in now. It seems entirely feasible that the $300 million deal to arm Afghanistan by this kid was made knowing it would fail. Hell, many postulate that the US deliberately lacked the requisite manpower to ensure a civil war in Iraq, so that the ensuing instability would guarantee a permanent US presence in Iraq.
I think a lot of the actions of this administration were deliberately disguised as incompetence but purposeful.

$300 million for substandard munitions sourced by a 22-year-old incompetent. Yet we can't find $4 million to keep a rover running that we got to Mars safely and that's doing more in its short life than this kid will likely do in his much longer one.

And don't even get me started on how much health care that could have bought...or armor...or plane tickets HOME for our gals and guys in uniform...

page 5

As the cartridges in Albania were being prepared for shipment to Afghanistan, Mr. Diveroli began seeking ammunition from the Czech Republic to fill an order for Iraq’s Interior Ministry.

In May 2007, according to two American officials, the Czech government contacted the American Embassy in Prague with a concern: AEY was buying nine million cartridges

On May 7, 2007, the Czech government issued an export license. Mr. Bernatik, in a telephone interview, said he arranged seven flights to Iraq for AEY last year. “We have a normal business collaboration,” he said.

The Iraqi army doesnt stand a chance in their civil war, not with ammo of this quality.
Any wonder their moral is low and desertion rate is so high.

I want his job!!!!!

Gosh, I'm sure glad impeachment is off the table!

Ammunition for the U.S.soldiers provided by the lowest bidder. Brilliant. Margins would be way to tight to actually employ Americans to manufacture their own tools of death and destruction though. Makes way more sense to borrow billions upon billions of dollars to be paid by the future future future taxpayer, and send it to outlaws and arms dealers and mafioso and foreign government hacks to buy their stockpiled rotten useless munitions.
Come on people, wake up!! War is for the U.S. economy. Why are other people getting rich off our dead soldiers. The U.S. should be the one prospering off of the deaths of their soldiers. Maybe someone is profiting sooooo much, that they don't give a hoot about this pittance for some bullets.

If you're going to divert the American taxpayers' money to fund some black -op, be it drug running, rightwing death squads, what have you (which is what I honestly believe that $300 million was for), is it expecting too much to do it through intermediaries who AT LEAST LOOK COMPETENT??? Jesus Fucking Christ! I wouldn't let this dickhead wash my car!

He isn't clueless, he's a Free Marketeer, and by all accounts a good one.

for $300million can we bend him over and grease him up?

Let me take another guess at the equipment that kid provided. Muskets maybe?

he was 18 when he got his first contract.

BaScOmBe whose saying “NO REPUGS” @ 132:

he was 18 when he got his first contract.

in between doing the usual teen stuff like boozing and being a jerk.

He has only one MySpace friend!

ashton @ 14:

Most people have no experience with governement contracting, let alone Federal contracting. If you understood the level of scrutiny and requirements to even have your offer accepted, this story would utterly blow your mind. It is literally impossible, so I thought, that a kid could bid on a government contract while having zero experience and actually be awarded that contract. Most US companies would have great difficulty getting a contract for less than $100K because of all of the requirements and checks. To think that a kid gets a $300M contract is just outrageous.

Trust me when I tell you that there is far more to this story and this is just scratching the surface. This kid knew somebody who helped him out. That will be the real story.

Nope, ya gotta go backwards from yer supposition.

This kid was PICKED, and set up, so private party's could benefit from SELLING and BEING PAID by our government, us taxpayers, for old and outdated and undestroyed ammo.

This is a CLASSIC case of making a buck, off of nothing.

And the government and BushCo profited from it, somehow, privately.

Think of it a as a bailout, with kickbacks.

This kid was handpicked.

The REAL story, is who OWNED the ammo, and who set this deal up.

Hell of a scam. Likely, we'll never know, but people profited from dead inventory.

Milo would be proud, methinks.

"Thank God Waxman is on the case."

I dunno about that. seems to me that every investigation his committee has done, while having some salient moments, has petered out.

The crimes of the Bush/Cheney junta and The Republican Crime Syndicate never ends!

let's see now, he's the friend, son, grandson, nephew, lover, boyfriend of whom? that's what needs to be investigated.

Wonder whose boyfriend he is?

ferrofluid @ 42:

Dave @ 29:

The Myspace page looks like a fake. He doesn't even have 1 friend.

Correct, arms dealers dont advertise like this or have myspace webpages.
its a shady introvert quiet profession, lived by people who like anonymity and avoiding the MSM spotlight.

That's true for real arms dealers but not necessarily with idiot amateurs that the Bush administration prefers to deal with,

The criminals in the Bush administration never cease to surprise.

Incompetence starts at the top and trickles down throughout every level of this Republican administration, just as insanity does.

Remember the dishwasher, hired to work at the CPA in Baghdad after he applied for the job on the right-wing Heritage Foundation website, who was put in charge of rebuilding Iraq's post-invasion financial system?

The culture of corruption and criminal cronyism Bush administration has definitely given new meaning to the saying "It's not what you know, but who you know."