Word: agent
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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American officials privately admit that the traffic in U.S. arms for Iran is out of control. Says a Customs agent responsible for halting illegal high-technology exports at Los Angeles International Airport: "There is a large and active movement to ship illegal arms and weapons-systems parts and spares to Iran." A Pentagon intelligence agent in Washington notes that "whatever the dollar value, it is far more than any of us think...
Customs officials admit they lack the expertise to identify military parts that are illegal to export. An agent in Washington reveals that for two years one U.S. firm sent crates marked TRACTOR ENGINES from Boston to Iran. Even though the crates had been inspected, it took a new inspector with military experience to note that the engines were equipped with superchargers. They were replacements for the engines used in U.S.-built M-60 tanks...
Even when a part number on invoices correctly identifies the material in a crate as a banned military item, Customs agents have no easy way of knowing it. The Treasury Department does not have a formal arrangement with the Defense Department to verify that the parts numbers are on lists of contraband items. Says a Customs agent in Washington: "Usually, I call a friend at the Pentagon and ask him to look up the numbers for me as a favor...
...Ugly American image is largely forgotten. For one thing, though they spend more money and time in Europe than any other non-Continental nationality, Americans today are only a part of the tourist mass. As Atlanta Travel Agent Phil Osborne puts it, "The whole planet earth is traveling." Ten times as many Germans as Americans visit Italy each year; as many vacationers on the Continent come from tight little Britain as from the entire U.S. By contrast with the early days of jet travel, when tourists from the heartland came dressed in Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts or polyester pants...
...museums of Europe. The cost for that is about $2,900 for two weeks (airfare included), but the participant can save $4,000 by buying a Mercedes overseas and bringing it back to the U.S. The demand for deluxe travel is as lusty as ever. Says Atlanta Travel Agent Phil Osborne: "People are buying the Orient Express from London to Venice like popcorn. That's $550 for 24 hours on an old, refurbished train, not including meals. Yet we can't get enough seats...