Austria yesterday washed its hands of any responsibility after it was revealed that powerful sniper rifles it sold to Iran had been acquired by insurgents in Iraq.
Sounds like a euphemism for the whole eu/iran nuclear situation as well...
The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that American troops had recovered more than 100 Steyr HS50 Mannlicher rifles, part of a consignment of 800 sold to Iran by Austria last year, during a series of raids in Iraq.
Astrid Harz, a spokesman for the Austrian foreign ministry, said yesterday that the sale had been "checked very thoroughly" and what happened to the rifles after they were delivered to Teheran ostensibly for use by border police was not the responsibility of her government. It was the responsibility of the Iranians, she said.
Technically true in a narrow sense, and the classic bureauocratic dodge: "I know nothing! Tell them Hogan!"
Nevertheless, given the recent history of the region, what did you expect the Iranians to do with the rifles: go elk hunting? |
Franz Holzschuh, Steyr's chief executive, said the company had not been contacted by anyone officially to verify the serial numbers on the rifles. He said it was possibile that the weapons were copies.
Yeah, them perfideous Iranians must have made identical copies of our top of the line, highly specialized and finely manufactured...
The Austrian government concluded in 2004 that the.50 rifles, capable of piercing all types of body armour, would be used to fight drug smugglers. But American and British officials had warned that the weapons would could fall into the hands of insurgents.
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