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The article
Sensitive U.S. military items are frequently for sale on eBay, according to a new report from the American government. Many of the items are in perfect working order and could be used against American troops by its enemies. Investigators working undercover discovered thousands of stolen pieces of army equipment that should never have left military hands. These included super high-tech night vision goggles that were specially made to spot U.S. troops in a war zone. Other items included components for F-14 fighter jets and army combat uniforms. The report said these items could have been "used directly against our troops and allies”. Indeed, Iraqi fighters wore stolen U.S. army uniforms in January 2007 when they sneaked into a US base in Iraq and killed five American soldiers.
EBay said it was doing its best to prevent the sale of banned and sensitive military items. A senior public relations officer Kim Rubey told reporters that the online auction site had 113 million items listed for sale, and it was easy for stolen items to slip through the net. EBay’s Vice President Todd Cohen said the company does its utmost to prevent the sale of items that could put U.S. troops in harm’s way: "We created prohibited and restricted items policies and built tools using state-of-the-art technology to enforce those policies," he said. The U.S. Army admitted most of the items were stolen from its own military buildings. A high-ranking spokeswoman Sarah H. Finnicum called the ongoing theft, "property accountability and visibility challenges".
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