http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/state-... by Marian Wang
ProPublica,
Feb. 4, 2011"Feb. 5: This post has been corrected.
The American-made tear gas used to disperse pro-democracy protesters in Egypt earlier this week was sold to the country after government review, a State Department spokeswoman told us.
So, why did the State Department license the sale of American-made tear gas to be used by the Egyptian police, when the State Department itself has documented the police’s history of brutality <6>? When I asked this question, I received the following response, in full:
The US government licensed the sale of certain crowd dispersal articles to the government of Egypt. That license was granted after a thorough vetting process and after a multi-agency review of the articles that were requested.
Noticeably absent in that answer was anything about the Egyptian police. When I pressed further and mentioned this WikiLeaks cable <7>—written by U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey describing “routine and pervasive” police brutality and torture in Egypt—the response was immediate.
“I cannot provide any authentication of anything that has been published by the website WikiLeaks,” Thompson said..."
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2011/11/... Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
November 29, 2011"Index for Today's Briefing
EGYPT
Tear Gas / U.S. Security Assistance Funds / Licenses for Export / Condemn Any Misuse
Elections / American Election Experts"
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2011/11/... "QUESTION: Can we talk about Egypt?
...QUESTION: But Mark, considering with the violence we saw last week and the fact that you’ve got – what, a 21-ton shipment, three part, arriving now, some of it in Suez right now – doesn’t that kind of send a mixed message from the U.S. Government? I mean, I know on one hand the U.S. Embassy in Cairo this morning tweeted, “U.S. security assistance funds were not being used for tear gas. That’s a genuine fact.” Another tweet said the U.S. is providing humanitarian assistance to victims, but has condemned excessive force.
But what does that say then, when you’ve got tear gas shipments arriving in the Port of Suez with “Made in the USA” on the side of them?
MR. TONER: Well, it’s – again, as I said, these are – this tear gas is approved for export to many countries around the world. It’s used by police forces in many countries around the world including our own --
QUESTION: But you’ve seen instances, haven’t you, in the past week or so, where it’s been misused?
MR. TONER: Right. And let me just finish what – my last point, which was saying that we certainly condemn the misuse of tear gas that would result in death or injury. And any kind of misuse to that extent would certainly cause us to – give us pause, I think, and has the potential to jeopardize future exports..."
http://www.alternet.org/rss/breaking_news/... /
"...The chemical compounds in the tear gas determine whether it's State or Commerce that's responsible for licensing the product. In general, the State Department licenses the export of defense items -- including military-grade tear gas -- as spelled out on its Munitions List. The Commerce Department licenses the export of tear gas formulations that are considered "dual use" -- that is,..."
