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| Europe | |
| We are not responsible for rifles, says Austria | |
| 2007-02-14 | |
| 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.
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 | |
| Posted by:DanNY |
| #21 The insurgents are so clever that they can carve a sniper rifle from a bar of unused soap. Seriously thouugh I saw General Pace talking about this and he looked profoundly stammeringly uncomfortable doing some kind of damage control. |
| Posted by: J.D. Lux 2007-02-14 20:55 |
| #20 they were delivered to Teheran ostensibly for use by border police was not the responsibility of her government Is it Austria's fault the German/Farsi translaters confused border police with intelligence agents. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-02-14 18:04 |
| #19 You're way too subtle Ptah, ain't gonna work. Austria=skiing good, America = NewWorldOrder Enforced by mindless ChaneyNauts. Bad. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-02-14 17:52 |
| #18 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. 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. Exactly what we said about the agricultural helicopters we sold to Saddam, and which he converted to spray WMD. so, if Americans aren't supposed to wriggle out of the moral responsiblity for what Saddam did with them, then the Austrians can't. But if the Austrians can, then the Americans should be able to also. If we let the Austrians wriggle out of it, then they should do to Iran what we did to Iraq: suspend all weapons sales to them. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2007-02-14 17:10 |
| #17 Steyr claims the HS50 will make a 9" group at a range of 1 mile. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-02-14 16:49 |
| #16 FYI...these firearms retail for $4000 per, without optics. Not a "left it on the bus" item. |
| Posted by: Capsu 78 2007-02-14 15:37 |
| #15 #7 SPOD, please choose your targets more carefully. Read comment #1 please. Thank you. Posted by DanNY 2007-02-14 08:59|| Front Page|| ||Comments Top Danny please explain why SPOD should rhetorically "choose" his targets more carefully? |
| Posted by: RD 2007-02-14 13:13 |
| #14 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. Like hell. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-02-14 11:57 |
| #13 Perhaps Mayor Bloomberg can be persuaded to go after these Austrian gun dealers as well? |
| Posted by: doc 2007-02-14 11:45 |
| #12 “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.” You know there is something missing from this matter-of-fact report. Hmmm…what is it…wait don’t tell me…ummm…oh yeah…PROOF. There is literally thousands of unaccounted Steyr HS50 on the Black Market. You know…just like the ones that were recovered in the Balkans, Chech., Afg., etc, etc., etc. Most of them were rendered untraceable either through modification or re-tooling. I know it’s convenient for some folks to think of the Iranians as either insane or fools but the fact of the matter is they’re reeeaaallly good at this shit. Not to mention, the Iranian Mafia has some pretty good connections in the area of freelance arm shipments. So show me the money! Otherwise all your doing is barking at the moon. But here’s a hint. Basic 50 cal. Ammo is available in damn near every country on the planet. There have been unconfirmed reports that the snipers in Iraq have been using high-tech stuff. That might be the trail worth sniffing. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-02-14 10:12 |
| #11 ATTENTION Torte Lawyers! Feeling under whelmed by the lack of business knocking at your door? Settlements down because of government regulation ? Your time on the golf course is greater than that of Tiger Woods? Well, we have a deal for you. Yes indeed, you can get busy today by contacting the survivors of our noble fallen in Iraq by showing them today you and they can profit by the Alabama Claims precedent. Since SCOTUS Justice Kennedy has extended rights of illegal combatant into the due process of the American judicial system, our claimants should also have standing in our civil courts to punish the miscreants and recover compensation for pain and suffering of our valiant men and women. Who needs a bunch of panty waisted foreign service officers to waste our citizens valuable time and claims. So don’t delay. Strike for freedom and your bottomline. Act now! This offer not available in Massachusetts or California. Brought to you by the ‘Sic a dog on a dog’ info programmers |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-02-14 09:41 |
| #10 Courts? Just ask Congress to put a 100% tariff on all Austrian imports. |
| Posted by: mrp 2007-02-14 09:28 |
| #9 Again, this is why the US has to rub Austria's face in it, like a bad dog forced to confront their own scumber on a rug, while being whacked with a rolled-up newspaper. The way to do this is to get a sizable number of US families of US servicemen killed in Iraq with these rifles to file suit against both the manufacturer, and the government of Austria, in the EU human rights court. The EU HRC is a weird body, that makes all sorts of bizarre judgments, and is very unpredictable. It would have Austria sweating bullets just on its own right. And *then*, the US government could turn the trial into an exercise of demonstrating European duplicity, treachery, corruption, and political malfeasance towards Iraq and Iran, by providing these families with lots of humiliating evidence to air in court. And *then*, because it would be ignored by the European press, they could broadcast it all over Europe on VOA, and send daily write-ups to every newspaper. As much as they loathe the US, reporters are lazy curs, and can't resist free copy. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-02-14 09:16 |
| #8 Nope. Nothing to see here. Move along. And Austria was "occupied" by Nazi Germany too. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-02-14 09:05 |
| #7 SPOD, please choose your targets more carefully. Read comment #1 please. Thank you. |
| Posted by: DanNY 2007-02-14 08:59 |
| #6 Iranian border police/fight against drug smugglers seems to be code for gift for Hamas/Insurgents |
| Posted by: Glineting Slert2228 2007-02-14 08:01 |
| #5 Wahhahahaha.... Steyr knock-offs? General Pace, what say you? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-02-14 07:45 |
| #4 Ya Herr. Ze Iranians vould like to buy 100,000 centrifuges. Zey say dey vant to use zem to spin ze salads. |
| Posted by: Austria 2007-02-14 07:21 |
| #3 "It was the responsibility of the Iranians, she said." Well that is the truth, now what the hell is Washington going to do about it? I predict nothing, it's not their kids getting killed with them. As far as this "Franz Holzschuh" he should be found with a 22LR hole in the base of his skull as a message to the "eurpoeans" who think they can play with the big boys that in reality they can't. It's hard to spend that money when you are dead anyway. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2007-02-14 07:20 |
| #2 I keep hearing the old favorite "I Was Not A Nazi" polka. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-02-14 06:08 |
| #1 It should be noted that Franz Holzschuh just recently purchased Steyr. The previous owner was Wolfgang Fuerlinger who bought the company in 2001. |
| Posted by: DanNY 2007-02-14 06:05 |