I just posted on this over at Willamette Week. Geoffrey B. Roose, a self-described three-tour U.S. Army veteran from Oregon, was arrested last week following a sting by Homeland Security agents who stumbled across his eBay store, where he was selling restricted (and apparently stolen) Trijicon military rifle scopes.
Roose’s eBay username: “mr.f.u.up.”
Investigators got a hold of Roose’s emails. In one, he reacted defensively to a prospective customer on eBay who pointed out that he appeared to be dealing in stolen government property.
“You know what man,” Roose began,
I spent three tours overseas and it isn’t my responsibility to police the world. … Take a load off and try worrying about your life, not stupid federal ITAR rules or stolen property. There is more government property wasted in a dumpster overseas then [sic] you will ever see on ebay. Sorry to be rude, but it’s the god honest truth. … Check feedback before you accuse someone of potentially having stolen property. Deal with it, it happens. It’s your tax dollars.
I have a new cover story over at Willamette Week about a corruption case involving a former civilian official at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command now sitting in federal prison on 35 counts of bribery, extortion and receiving illegal gratuities. Read it there.
And keep checking back for updates—I expect WIB to resume a more regular posting schedule by the end of the year.
This week, I’ve written a story about a large-but-low-profile Pentagon contractor for Willamette Week, the award-winning paper in Portland, Oregon, where I’ve been working since June. Read the story there.
The contractor, FLIR Systems, has claimed more Department of Defense and Homeland Security contracts than any other in the state, which has relatively few big contracts. It makes advanced imaging technology coveted by armed forces around the world.
Since 9/11, its revenues have increased sixfold, to $1.4 billion last year. As impressive as that may be, consider FLIR’s profitability: from a $29 million loss in 2000 to a $56 million profit last year.
Chairman and CEO Earl Ray Lewis III this year signed a contract that sets his base salary at $875,000 next year, several times what he made when he joined the company before 9/11. Forbes magazine says Lewis’ compensation last year totaled $5.4 million.
Late last month, blaming uncertainty around the military budget, FLIR announced it would lay off 40 workers in Wilsonville—one-tenth of its workforce in the state. Then last week, FLIR won a three-year, $52 million U.S. Navy contract for the Star SAFIRE thermal-imaging systems it manufactures in Wilsonville.
Recently the company struck deals with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, two nominal US allies with spotted human rights records.
