US arms uncontrollably sold to Iraqi militias

How our tax dollars paid for arms that ended up in the hands of Iraqi militias and South African security guards:

As the insurgency in Iraq escalated in the spring of 2004, American officials entrusted an Iraqibusinessman with issuing weapons to Iraqi police cadets training tohelp quell the violence.

By all accounts, the businessman, Kassim al-Saffar, a veteran of theIran-Iraq war, did well at distributing the Pentagon-supplied weaponsfrom the Baghdad Police Academy armory he managed for a militarycontractor. But, co-workers say, he also turned the armory into his ownprivate arms bazaar with the seeming approval of some Americanofficials and executives, selling AK-47 assault rifles, Glock pistolsand heavy machine guns to anyone with cash in hand — Iraqi militias,South African security guards and even American contractors.

“Thiswas the craziest thing in the world,” said John Tisdale, a retired AirForce master sergeant who managed an adjacent warehouse. “They weretaking weapons away by the truckload.”

Broken government.  Lack of accountability.  Neoconservative recklessness.  All this has taken place ever since the build-up to war, while the so-called "liberal media" stood still.