by Guy Lawson
Iraq War contracts on, 17–21, 23–25, 35–39, 42, 50–54, 58, 97, 152–53
NSV machine gun ammo contract on, 210–13
Packouz’s search for contracts on, 187, 200
see also defense contracts
Final Afghan Price Matrix, 72–73
flyover permissions, 1, 3, 60, 99–100, 102, 133, 134
FN Herstal machine guns, 43
Fort Bragg, N.C., 8, 12
Gansler Report, 174
Garcia, Oscar, 182–83
Gates, Robert, 124, 142, 147
Gau, Loye, and Mentavlos’s attempts to halt AEY shipments, 189–91
General Dynamics, 75–76, 80, 100, 177
Georgia, Republic of, 134
Gërdec, Albania, ammo explosion at, 214–17, 223, 225
death toll of, 217
Trebicka’s evidence about, 231
gjakmarrja (blood feud), 159
Glocks, 53
GP-30 grenades, 62, 69, 93
Green Zone, 15–16, 22, 25
grenade launchers, 206
grenades, 8, 19, 24, 31, 62, 65, 68, 69, 72
rocket-propelled (RPGs), 10, 24, 58, 69, 188
grenades, Army Task Order 001 for, 188
AEY as winning bidder for, 79
Bulgaria as source for, 96–97, 109, 133, 182
Diveroli’s and Packouz’s fear of failure in, 80–81
fake documents in, 87–88, 182
price negotiations in, 86–87
transportation costs in, 133–34
Griffiths, Hugh, 164–65, 223
Gun, The (Chivers), 224
“gunboard” websites, 10
gunrunning, see arms dealing, arms dealers
Gutierrez, Moises, 202–4, 208–9
Gyanendra, king of Nepal, 43, 182
Halliburton, xiv, 15
Haqqani Network, 56
Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 56
helmet contract, 17–19, 38–39, 53
Host Nation Trucking program, 173, 174–75
House Oversight Committee, US:
AEY investigation of, 225–26
Kokolari’s contacting of, 162
Trebicka’s e-mail to, 230, 231
Trebicka’s testimony to, 229
“How Would We Fight China” (Kaplan), 67
Hoxha, Enver, 110–11, 113
HP White Laboratory Inc., Chinese AK-47 ammo test-fired by, 227
Hungary, 57, 108
as source of AK-47 ammo, 1–5, 69, 71, 109, 120, 144, 206
Hussein, Saddam, 14, 22–23, 107
Hyderabad, Afghanistan, 151
IDEX:
Chinese at, 91–92
Packouz at, 88–93, 157, 211
Russians at, 92–93
ID/IQ (Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity) contracts, 23–25
IEDs (improvised explosive devices), 21, 56
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 178, 182
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Diveroli’s fear of, 82, 85, 155, 156
Iran, US arms embargo on, 59–60, 68
Iraq, difficulty of tracking shipments in, 38
Iraq, 2005 elections in, 22
Sunni-Shiite conflict in, 22
Iraq military:
arms shortages in, 16
Bremer’s dismantling of, 14
cost of training and deploying, 17
poor-quality weapons supplied to, 21–22, 82
Soviet Bloc weapons used by, xiv, 19, 36, 47, 70
US stand-up of, 14–17, 24, 104, 133, 164
weapons procurement by, 16
Iraq War, 206
AEY contracts for, 17, 19–21, 23–25, 35–39, 42, 47–48, 50–54, 58, 62, 80, 82–83, 97, 107, 152–53, 194
Bush administration’s justification of, 22–23, 107
fraud and waste in, 16, 58, 173–74
ID/IQ contracts for, 23–25
insurgency in, 14, 16, 20–21, 22, 38, 53
Kurdish forces in, 235–36
Operation Phantom Fury in, 20
Operation Together Forward in, 53
private contractors and, xvii, 6, 7, 13, 14–21, 31, 47–54, 126, 164–65
US policy in, xv
US soldiers in, 21
US troop surge in, xiii, xiv, 57, 80
see also Iraq military
Islamic Courts Union, 196
Johnson, Melanie, 189, 202
Jones, Kim, 100–101
Jorge (pseud.), 89–90
Justice Department, US, 225
misleading AEY press releases of, 233
Trebicka’s grand jury appearance sought by, 230
Kabul, Afghanistan, 1, 2, 3
arrival of first AEY shipment in, 133–34
monitoring of AEY shipments in, 171–72
22 Bunkers in, 172, 190, 203, 205–6, 208
Kalashnikov, Mikhail, 162–63
Kalashnikov AK-47, see AK-47s
Kalashnikov RPK light machine gun, 31
Kanun, 159
Kaplan, Robert, 67
Karachi, Pakistan, 173
Karzai, Hamid, attempted assassination of, 151
Kazakhstan, 60, 99
Keller, Bill, 198–99
Kellogg Brown & Root, 15
Khrushchev, Nikita, 113
Known and Unknown (Rumsfeld), 17
Kokolari, Gary, 188
Chivers contacted by, 162–63
House Oversight Committee contacted by, 162
Trebicka and, 161–62, 193–94
Kurds, Albanian AK-47 rounds and other surplus ammo donated to, 235–36
Kyrgyz KGB, AEY’s plane seized by, 3–5, 144–48, 168
Kyrgyzstan, 1, 3–5, 60, 144–48, 168
large-caliber ammunition, demilitarization of, 214–17
La Scala, Arnaldo, 20–21
Lastay Kulang, Operation, 152
Lebanon, 15
Lenard, Joan, 237, 239, 240
Liberia, 49, 196
Lithuania, 57
Lockheed Martin, 13, 124
Logic of Failure, The (Dörner), 234
Logistics Civil Augmentation Programs (LOGCAP), 15
Loktantrik Andolan, 43–44
London Telegraph, 58–59
Lord of War (film), 39
Los Angeles Times, 16
Lowry, Howard, 25
M16 rifle, 17
Macedonia, 81, 134
machine guns, 19, 24, 31, 42–43
mafia, Albanian, 2, 5, 140, 159, 197
Mali, 164
Mao Tse-tung, 113
Masood, Usman, 200–201
Mediu, Fatmir, 161, 208
Gërdec disaster and, 214–17, 231
Wood’s interview of, 196–99
MEICO (Military Export Import Company; Albania), 70–71, 110, 116–17, 120, 123, 161, 167
Albanian-made ammo supplied by, 129
Chinese-made ammo supplied by, 129, 137, 172, 197, 214
Diveroli’s failure to pay, 122, 142
Gërdec disaster and, 214–17
Thomet and, 135–36, 140, 141
Trebicka’s complaints about, 134–35
Mentavlos, Michael:
AEY indictments and, 233
in attempts to halt AEY shipments of ammo, 189–94
Chinese ammo samples obtained by, 193, 194, 202
DCIS investigation of AEY headed by, 178–79, 182–87, 189–94, 201–7
Diveroli as special target of, 189, 192, 193, 201–2, 228, 231
Gërdec evidence ignored by, 231
Packouz’s meetings with, 182–84, 186
Packouz’s Nigerian deal and, 183–84
reverse undercover sting used by, 178
Sustainment Command documents requested by, 178–79
in Tirana, 191–94
Trebicka’s meetings with, 193, 228–29, 231
Trebicka’s obstruction of justice accusation against, 230–31
Merrill, Ralph, xvi, 225
AEY’s first deal with, 18–1
9
AK-47 contract and, 83, 84, 85, 98, 118, 167–68, 169–70
background of, 18
Diveroli’s lying to, 168, 169–70, 184–85
indictment of, 233
NY Times article and, 227
plea deal rejected by, 236
Thomet and, 19, 21, 98, 136–37
trial and conviction of, 236–38
Meyer, Levi, 125–26
Microcosm, 238
military, US:
armament of, 21, 66
see also Army, US; Defense Department, US
military-industrial complex, 6, 13
“mini-competes,” 24, 25, 80
mortar rounds, xiii, 24, 62, 69
Mountain Fury, Operation, 80
Mountain Thrust, Operation, 56
MP5s, 95
mujahideen, US arming of, 58–59
Multi-National Security Transition Command (Minsticky), 16–17
Myev, Victor, 122–23, 142–43
Myspace, 166–67
National Defense Authorization Act (2006), 68
National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC), 225
NATO, 202
Albania’s pending membership in, 57, 71, 123, 142, 149, 197, 215
in expansion into Eastern Europe, 4
neoconservatives, 14, 67
Nepal, rebellion in, 43–44, 182
Newsome, Robert, 132–33, 143–44, 156
Diveroli’s meeting with, 141–42
Podrizki’s conversations with, 132–33, 156
Trebicka’s meeting with, 132, 229–30
New York Times, 11n, 162, 175, 193, 194, 217
New York Times, AEY story in, xiv, xv–xvi, 221–25, 227, 233, 239
Diveroli and Packouz as focus of, 223, 227–28
mug shots of Diveroli and Packouz in, 221–22, 227
quality of AEY ammo misrepresented in, 208–9, 221, 222
reportorial accuracy of, 221–22, 223–24
see also Chivers, C. J.
Niger, 164
night-vision goggle contract, 36–37
Norinco, 91–92
Northrop Grumman, 14
“notwithstanding any other provision of law” loophole, 49
Obama, Barack, xiii, 80
OG 40 mm fragmentation warheads, 206
oil futures, 101
122 mm HE shells, 72, 74
“operational necessity,” 190, 191, 202–3, 205
Packouz, Amabelle, 88, 158, 185, 200, 210
Packouz, David, xiii, 225
AK-47 contract and, see AK-47 ammunition, Army Task Order 002 for
as ambivalent about relationship with Diveroli, 40–41, 60, 78
arrest of, for valet parking fight, 77–78, 221–22
as atheist, 29–30
author’s interviews with, xvi
college attended by, 27–28, 29
in commission agreement with Diveroli, 33, 53
confession of, 182–83
daughter of, 88, 158, 185, 200, 210
and DCIS raid on AEY offices, 179–80
delinquent behavior of, 29
Diveroli’s e-mails searched for incriminating evidence by, 184–85
on Diveroli’s habitual lying, 38–39, 155, 168
Diveroli’s postraid meeting with, 185–86
Diveroli’s recruitment of, 30–33
Diveroli’s reneging on profit deal with, 153–57
Diveroli’s sayings collected by, 39–40
Diveroli threatened by, 155–57
drug use by, 1–2, 3, 6, 9, 23, 26, 27, 29, 79, 80, 94, 179
Dynacore Industries created by, see Dynacore Industries
in failed Xbox deal, 33–35
financial goals of, 29, 33, 45, 75, 78, 80–81, 187
guilty plea of, xv, 236
Hungary-sourced ammo and, 1–5
at IDEX trade show, 88–93, 157, 211
indictment of, 233
in Israel, 29
lawyer hired by, 181–82
lifestyle of, 94–95
Masood and, 200–201
massage therapy business of, xv, 2, 3, 22, 28, 29, 42, 185, 211, 238
Mentavlos’s meetings with, 182–83, 186
Microcosm album of, 238–39
mug shot of, xvi, 221–22, 227
musical ambitions of, 28, 29, 41, 75, 187, 238–39
nightclubbing and partying by, 30–31, 40–41
on NY Times story errors, 223–24
NY Times story’s focus on, 227–28
online trading business of, 28–29
Orthodox Jewish background of, 6–7, 9, 27, 35
Sara and, 42, 187, 200, 211
Sara’s pregnancy and, 44–45, 88
shyness of, 41
suspended sentence of, xv, 239
Thomet and, 211
trade shows attended by, 38–39, 46–48, 75–76, 88–93, 157
see also AEY
Packouz, Sara, 42, 187, 200
Packouz’s marriage to, 211
pregnancy of, 44–45, 88
Pakistan, 102
Taliban sanctuaries in, 56, 151
Peshmerga, Albanian surplus ammo donated to, 235–36
Petraeus, David, 17, 208
Phantom Fury, Operation, 20
Pileggi, Joe, 75–76
Pinari, Ylli, 110–11, 120, 121, 122, 129, 134–35, 138, 159, 214
Diveroli’s meeting with, 138–39, 141
Gërdec disaster and, 217, 231
Trebicka’s threats against, 158–59
PKM machine gun, ammo for, 203–4, 207
Plumb, Colonel, 146
Podrizki, Alex, xiii, 6, 105, 225
author’s interviews with, xvi
confession of, 183
and DCIS raid on AEY offices, 180
Diveroli’s first recruitment attempt rejected by, 95
Diveroli’s war profiteering as appalling to, 106–7
Diveroli urged to seek political support by, 123, 125, 145
in flight from Albania, 180–81, 188
guilty plea of, xv, 236
indictment of, 233
international relations degree of, 22, 106
Iraq War and radicalizing of, 22–23, 106–7
joblessness of, 106
language skills of, 107
legal bills of, 213
Newsome’s conversations with, 132–33, 156
Orthodox Jewish background of, 6–7, 9, 106
and Packouz’s threatening of Diveroli, 155–56
politics as interest of, 106–7, 112
pot smoking by, 6, 9, 23, 26
in return to US, 183
substandard ammo as concern of, 6
suspended sentence of, xv, 239
in Tirana, xvi, 2, 110–15, 119–23, 126–27, 128–33, 138–41, 144–46, 149–51, 158–59, 161, 170, 192–93
Trebicka and, 128–33, 134–35, 158–59
on Trebicka’s death, 233
see also AEY
Poland, 57
private contractors:
Afghanistan War and, xvii, 6, 7, 13, 49, 126, 164–65
DDTC watch list bypassed in contracts with, 48–51, 82, 223
fraud and waste in, xvii, 15–16, 25, 53–54, 83, 173–75
Iraq war and, xvii, 6, 7, 13, 14–21, 31, 47–54, 126, 164–65
subcontractor loophole and, 49–51, 174–75
see also AEY
procurement officers, 25, 43
and slandering of AEY by competitors, 54
see also Sustainment Command (US Army)
“pseudo case,” AK-47 contract as, 97
Putin, Vladimir, 4, 60, 100, 147
Raytheon, 13, 124
Regulatory Flexibility Act, 118
Republican Guard, Iraqi, 14
request for proposal (RFP), 61–62
reverse undercover sting, 178, 241–42
rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), 10, 24, 58, 69, 188
Rock Island, Ill., see Sustainment Command
(US Army)
Rolling Stone, AEY article in, xv, xvi
Romania, 57
Rosoboron:
in aborted arms deal for Afghan military, 58–60
at IDEX show, 92–93
RPK light machine gun, 31
Rumsfeld, Donald, 17, 67
Russia:
US ban on weapons purchased from, 4, 59–60, 68, 92–93, 100, 104, 147
US relations with, 4, 59–60
Sadr City, 53
Salang Pass, 102
Saudi Arabia, 14
Schmitt, Eric, Diveroli called by, 195
Sears, 34
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 22–23
“serviceable without qualification” specification, 21, 61, 109, 119, 150–51, 206, 207, 226–27, 238
7.62 ammunition, see AK-47 ammunition
Shekulli, 161
Shiite Muslims, Sunni conflict with, 22
SHOT Show, 38–39
Silkway, 133
single-source contracts, 8, 35
Skopje, Macedonia, 81
Somalia, 196, 201
Somaliland, 201
Southern Ammunition, 214
Soviet Union:
Afghanistan invaded by, 58–59, 90–91
Albania in split with, 113
Special Forces, US, 66, 70
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, 236
State Department, US:
arms dealer watch list of, see Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) watch list
Bishkek embassy of, 146
foreign-military-sales rules of, 116, 125, 126
and fraud accusations against AEY, 176
procurement officers of, 43
subcontractor regulations of, 50
Tirana embassy of, 122–23, 132–33, 171, 199, 225, 229, 237
Studio (karaoke bar), 28, 41
subcontractors, Defense Department loophole for use of, 49–51, 174–75
Sunni Muslims, Shiite conflict with, 22
Sustainment Command (US Army), 81, 83
in aborted plan to continue AEY ammo shipments, 204–5
AEY’s ammo shipments suspended by, 202
AEY’s failure to disclose Chinese ammo problem to, 117, 123–24
Chivers’s questioning of, 164, 209, 218–19
as concerned about AEY’s ability to fulfill contract, 147–48
Diveroli’s meeting with, 205
Diveroli’s negotiations with, 99, 100–101
Mentavlos’s request for AEY documents from, 178–79
as unwilling to halt AEY shipments, 189–91
see also defense contracts; procurement officers
SUV contract, 37
Suzie (pseud.), Diveroli’s relationship with, 41, 166
Switzerland, 47
Tajikistan, 99
Taliban, xiv, 56–57, 59, 80, 119, 151, 173–74, 236
Talmud, 35
tank shells, 58
Taos, 23–24, 115
Taylor, Charles, 49
Teeter, Kevin, 232
Tef (Winemiller’s assistant), 170–71
“termination for default,” 118–19
