WASHINGTON – Critical U.S. military war stocks in South Korea – including M1A1 tanks, howitzers and Bradley fighting vehicles – fell into such significant disrepair in the past year that it could have slowed a U.S. ground response to North Korean hostilities or another Pacific conflict, unreleased U.S. government reports show.
But even after government inspectors found, starting in October 2004, that at least half and as much as 80 percent of the heavy weapons and other fighting gear were not “fully mission capable,” inaccurate military reports led the Pentagon and Congress to believe that readiness was high.
Problems ranged from faulty engines and transmissions to cracked gun tubes, with some tanks requiring more than 1,000 hours of maintenance to repair – a condition that would have delayed for days their use in a conflict, reports by the Government Accountability Office and Army officials say.
The Pentagon and the Army said they have since fixed the gap in readiness in South Korea.
Feds probing Ford and GM models
The government is investigating whether the rear coil spring can fracture and punch a hole in the rear tires of 2000-2001 models of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable, federal auto safety officials said Tuesday. In a separate probe, the government is reviewing potential turn signal malfunctions in three General Motors Co. models – the 2002 Chevrolet Malibu, Oldsmobile Alero and Pontiac Grand Am. There have been no crashes, injuries or fatalities linked to either of the reviews, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.
Mad cow safety rules proposed
Seeking to close a gap in the nation’s defense against mad cow disease, the Bush administration on Tuesday proposed to eliminate cow brains and spinal cords from feed for all animals, including chickens, pigs and pets. The new proposal would reduce the risk of infection by 90 percent, said Stephen Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. After a public comment period, the rules are expected to take effect sometime in 2006, he said. Meanwhile, Japan moved a step closer to lifting its 20-month ban on American beef imports Tuesday as the nation’s food-safety panel agreed that the risk of U.S. beef infected with mad cow disease is extremely low.
N.Y.: Weight may be crash factor
Just days before a tour boat capsized on Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains, killing 20 people from Michigan and Ohio, the Coast Guard began rethinking its passenger-weight calculations to take into account Americans’ expanding waistlines. The acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said investigators would conduct tests today to see how The Ethan Allen would have handled at various speeds while carrying its maximum load of 50 people using a 160-pound-per-passenger calculation.
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