[quote]BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina is accusing the U.S. military of trying to sneak guns and spy equipment into the country under the guise of providing a routine police training course — a charge disputed Monday by U.S. officials.
Argentine authorities say they seized nearly 1,000 cubic feet of undeclared equipment, describing it as machine guns and ammunition, drugs and spy equipment. It was on a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane that landed Thursday with material for a training course that a U.S. Special Forces team had been invited to provide to Argentina's federal police.
"Argentine law must be complied with by all, without exception," Foreign Minister Hector Timerman told Arturo Valenzuela, the assistant U.S. secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, when Valenzuela called him to complain about how authorities handled the cargo, the ministry said.
Timerman also said Argentina would file an official protest in Washington and ask for a shared investigation into why the U.S. Air Force would try to violate Argentine law, the ministry said.
The seized material includes equipment "for intercepting communications, various sophisticated and powerful GPS devices, technological elements containing codes labeled secret, and a trunk full of expired medicine," the ministry said.
An Argentine federal judge is demanding a full accounting from the foreign ministry, and some lawmakers vowed to hold investigative hearings.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said he could not confirm if a protest had been filed, but he called on Argentina to return the U.S. equipment.
"We are puzzled and disturbed by the actions of Argentine officials," he told reporters in Washington.
Crowley called the search of the plane "unusual and unannounced" and said minor discrepancies in the manifest "were the kind of thing that could have been cleared up on the ground by customs officials."
The plane arrived at a sensitive time for Argentine-U.S. relations. Since the White House announced that President Barack Obama would visit Chile and Brazil but skip Argentina in his first trip to South America, Timerman has complained about U.S. military policies — in particular, training that the U.S. provides to Latin American police and military at the International Law Enforcement Academy in El Salvador.
The academy replaced the U.S. military's School of the Americas, where critics contend many Latin American military figures learned torture techniques that served the region's dictatorships in decades past. Human rights is a main thrust of the academy's curriculum, but Timerman has focused on the darker history.
A U.S. State Department official with knowledge of the events told The Associated Press that all the key material in the shipment was properly declared and authorized by Argentina, describing the undeclared equipment as a minor problem with the plane's manifest that could have been resolved privately.
For example, the official said, each machine gun and related equipment was declared. But extra gun barrels brought to replace barrels that overheat during live-fire exercises were seized because they lacked matching serial numbers, the official said.
The official agreed to discuss the matter only if not quoted by name because of the sensitivity of continuing talks over the issue.
Also seized was a U.S. medic's kit, brought along in case anyone got injured. While the kit was declared, all the drugs inside weren't individually listed, the official said.
The purported spy equipment is simply satellite phones, which the nine-member Special Forces training team carries with them in the field in case they must communicate through secure channels to their U.S. commanders, the official said. Only one of the three phones listed in the manifest was declared, and the inventory didn't specify all the related computer equipment or classified codes used to make the calls. All were seized, the official said.
"This elite team from the U.S. is on active duty. They're on call. They absolutely had to have it because at any moment if there was a hostage crisis that broke out in the world, they would have to leave and use it to communicate," the official said.
Stretchers, bandages and military rations make up most of the rest of the undeclared equipment. Argentine officials told the Americans during planning for the training course not to worry about declaring such material, the official said.
The course was canceled and the C-17 flew home with the Special Forces team, the official said.
___
Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.[/quote]
[url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110214/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_argentina_us[/url]
Way to be a dick....
U.S. needs to focus on internal affairs :colbert:
Let's be honest, the US probably is sneaking spy equipment in.
No no no, wait, that's silly, the US would never do any such thing.
I live in Argentina and this dont surprises me.
Its a shit country with a dumb woman as a president.
Who happens to be the former President's wife.
[QUOTE=Ridge;28058340][url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110214/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_argentina_us[/url]
Way to be a dick, Hugo....[/QUOTE]
What... Argentina isn't run by a Venezuelan dictator.
[QUOTE=RIPBILLYMAYS;28058352]U.S. needs to focus on internal affairs :colbert:[/QUOTE]
I don't think you read the article.
It's not like the US is the first to spy on countries. Or the first country to get caught trying to spy. Not a big deal.
The Special Forces train people all the time all over the world, they were probably doing exactly what they said they were doing.
Damn Argies.
That actually sounds more like a simple manifest error as opposed to some elaborate attempt to spy on Argentina.
How can you expect to not have to declare spy gear, guns and medicine?
[QUOTE=Edthefirst;28059079]What... Argentina isn't run by a Venezuelan dictator.[/QUOTE]
Ah damn, you're right.
[editline]14th February 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Nerts;28059998]How can you expect to not have to declare spy gear, guns and medicine?[/QUOTE]
Satellite phones =/= spy gear.
I bet Hillary ordered it.
[QUOTE=Sottalytober;28059349]It's not like the US is the first to spy on countries. Or the first country to get caught trying to spy. Not a big deal.[/QUOTE]
Spying is like masturbating. Everyone does it, everyone knows everyone does it, but it's awkward when you get caught.
[QUOTE=Ridge;28060075]Ah damn, you're right.
[editline]14th February 2011[/editline]
Satellite phones =/= spy gear.[/QUOTE]
Still leaves a lot of automatic weapons and some medical equipment though.
uh
training exercise
military / police
what can you associate with the 2?
medical shit and guns.
[QUOTE=Nerts;28060160]Still leaves a lot of automatic weapons and some medical equipment though.[/QUOTE]
God forbid someone brings some morphine and some quikclot to a firearms training seminar...
OP, [url=http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/58963/us-government-‘not-cooperating-with-the-investigation’-timerman-says][U]here[/U][/url]'s another, local source.
EDIT: I've got more informed about the whole issue, and there's a lot more behind this thing... long story short; because of a few Pro-Chavez politicians we're making a complete ass of ourselves. :/
Argentina was low on spy gear itself. Perfect and cheap way to restock.
[QUOTE=Edthefirst;28059079]What... Argentina isn't run by a Venezuelan dictator.[/QUOTE]
dictator? sure, chavez is a bit authoritarian but i wouldnt call him a dictator
[QUOTE=Nerts;28060160]Still leaves a lot of automatic weapons and some medical equipment though.[/QUOTE]
US special forces training the Argentinian police.
You know that kinda requires certain equipment, likes firearms.
The medicine is most likely a gesture of good will.
[QUOTE=Ridge;28062069]God forbid someone brings some morphine and some quikclot to a firearms training seminar...[/QUOTE][QUOTE=bravehat;28067282]US special forces training the Argentinian police.
You know that kinda requires certain equipment, likes firearms.
The medicine is most likely a gesture of good will.[/QUOTE]
So why was some of it undeclared? If it was supposed to be there and the Argentinians were supposed to know about it it would've been on the manifest. There's too many mistakes on it for it to be accidental.
[QUOTE=Nerts;28069475]So why was some of it undeclared? If it was supposed to be there and the Argentinians were supposed to know about it it would've been on the manifest. There's too many mistakes on it for it to be accidental.[/QUOTE]
SF: "Hey, we're gonna teach your guys how to shoot shit up"
Argentina: "Oh, hey, cool"
SF: "Yeah, we brought guns and medicine in case somebody fucks up"
Argentina: "OMGWTFBBQ?!"
Since when have machine guns ever been useful for spy work?
[QUOTE=Ridge;28078079]SF: "Hey, we're gonna teach your guys how to shoot shit up"
Argentina: "Oh, hey, cool"
SF: "Yeah, we brought guns and medicine in case somebody fucks up"
Argentina: "OMGWTFBBQ?!"[/QUOTE]
SF: "Hey, we're gonna teach your guys how to shoot shit up"
Argentina: "Oh, hey, cool"
SF: "Yeah, we brought guns and medicine in case somebody fucks up"
Argentina: "What's all this other stuff that's not on the manifest? It's not supposed to be there."
SF: "Uhhh..."
[QUOTE=Wolfmatyr;28079642]Since when have machine guns ever been useful for spy work?[/QUOTE]
True Lies
Declare war. It is the only way.
Seriously, you O.K. a spec-ops team to come teach your forces something, and then confiscate all of their equipment? Get fucked.
:foxnews:[B]ARGENTINA CONFISCATES US EQUIPMENT- POSSIBLE TERRORIST THREAT? MORE AT 9 [/B]:foxnews:
[QUOTE=Nerts;28079983]SF: "Hey, we're gonna teach your guys how to shoot shit up"
Argentina: "Oh, hey, cool"
SF: "Yeah, we brought guns and medicine in case somebody fucks up"
Argentina: "What's all this other stuff that's not on the manifest? It's not supposed to be there."
SF: "Uhhh..."[/QUOTE]
"other stuff"?
You mean the Sat phones, replacement MG barrels, and medical supplies (Which were listed, just not individually broken down).
The stuff that, had the ground crews mentioned that the manifest wasn't specific enough, could have been added and okayed before being seized.
Also the same stuff which is necessary for having a special operations team train Argentinian Federal police.
The plane contained 1000 cubic feet of hardware and a 9 man special operations team. ...oh man it almost sounds like what you would need if you were going to TRAIN POLICE FORCES.
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