File this under “Less Than Encouraging”: the New York Times reports that the dodgy firm contracted to supply bullets and ammunitions to U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan has supplied both obsolete, decaying munitions from the former Soviet Bloc and “tens of millions” of rifle and machine gun cartridges manufactured in China.  The procurement of these munitions poses a “possible violation of American law.”

  In January, a federal contract worth up to $300 million was awarded to a little known Miami firm, AEY Inc., to supply munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces.  According to an investigation by the Times, “the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging…Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete.”  Much of the Soviet stockpiles were supplied from aging munitions piles previously assumed to have been destroyed.

In addition to 40-year-old Soviet bullets, several millions rounds were purchased from Albanian stockpiles of Chinese-made ammunition.  In recent years, the U.S. has contributed $2 million to destroy excess small-caliber weapons and 2,000 tons of ammunition in Albania.

Essentially, AEY’s 22-year-old president Efraim Diveroli managed to land several contracts with the U.S. military to supply munitions to Afghanistan’s police and army.  His company was one of 10 firms that submitted bids in time for a September 2006 deadline, which led to a series of weapons contracts.  According to the New York Times, AEY has also provided supplies to the American military in Iraq, including a “$5.7 million contract for rifles for Iraqi forces.”

Aside from the disheartening corruption at the center of AEY’s bogus munitions sales, there’s the issue of circumventing domestic suppliers.  There are U.S. firms that would happily fulfill these procurement needs rather than see U.S. taxpayer dollars sent overseas—and to shady contractors.  Unfortunately, when procurement is awarded to foreign competitors, it helps put U.S. companies out of business.  In late 2007, for example, the renowned 140-year-old Winchester Arms factory in New Haven, Connecticut closed its doors.

There’s a reason that Congress passed the Berry Amendment to ensure that preference for defense procurement is given to domestically manufactured goods.  It simply makes sense to support one’s home factories.

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