Printer-friendly Version

November 5, 2003
The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld
Secretary
Department of Defense
1000 Defense, The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

In the wake of Sunday’s tragic attack on a U.S. military helicopter in Iraq, we are writing to urge you to increase the reward being offered by the Department of Defense for the return of shoulder-fired missiles. The devastating nature of this attack underscores the magnitude of the threat created by pervasive access to shoulder-fired missiles as well as the need to account for and defend against the missiles. Increasing the reward being offered to individuals within Iraq for the return of these weapons will strengthen the efforts of the United States to confiscate them and prevent future attacks on military and other aircraft.

As you know, Sunday’s attack on a U.S. military helicopter, which killed 16 soldiers, wounded 20 others, and was the deadliest single attack on American troops since the United States invaded Iraq in March, clearly demonstrates that limitations on the ability of our military to confiscate shoulder-fired missiles constitutes an ongoing security risk. Guerrillas are known to have fired missiles at American planes two or three times a week, and numerous attacks against coalition forces have led the Red Cross to stop flights into Baghdad and force the United Nations, which had been using civilian aircraft, to operate military C-130 transports equipped with missile countermeasures.

Reports indicate that the military has been unable to find hundreds of shoulder-fired missiles that were once part of Saddam Hussein’s arsenal. While the military has used rewards and other means to account for hundreds of Iraqi shoulder-fired missiles, the missiles found represent only a fraction of Iraq’s pre-war inventory of 3,700 to 10,000. The fact that the $500 reward reportedly being offered by the Department of Defense is far less than the $5000 to $10,000 that these weapons can be sold for on the black market makes it unlikely that they will all be recovered or returned.

As you are well aware, commercial aircraft operating within the United States are not exempt from the danger created by the existence of the missing shoulder-fired missiles. Top homeland security advisors, including the head of the Transportation Security Administration, believe that shoulder-fired missiles pose a clear and present danger to our national security. In May 2002, the FBI alerted airlines and law enforcement agencies to the threat of shoulder-fired missiles posed to U.S. commercial aircraft. In June 2001, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested two men in Florida seeking to purchase missiles from undercover federal agents. At least 27 terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and al Qaeda, possess shoulder-fired missiles. On August 12th of this year, federal authorities arrested an international arms dealer who had arranged to sell a shoulder-fired missile he believed was intended to shoot down a commercial airliner to a federal agent posing as a terrorist.

We feel that the availability of these weapons and the confirmed desire of terrorist groups to acquire them constitute a direct threat to our national security. A successful attack against a commercial aircraft using a shoulder-fired missile would undoubtedly result in a disastrous loss of life, a halt of all activity within the air transportation industry, and billions of dollars in economic damage.

In order to prevent further attacks on U.S. military aircraft of future attacks on commercial aircraft, we urge you to increase the reward being offered for the return of shoulder-fired missiles in Iraq. By increasing the reward to an amount that removes the financial incentive to sell these weapons on the black market, the Department of Defense can accelerate and improve its efforts to confiscate missing shoulder-fired missiles and can help to address a significant threat to national security.

We thank you for your attention to this important matter, and look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senate

Steve Israel
Member of Congress