Missile Story Less Scarey than Radio News Implies

[Griff]

I guess there is less story here than I thought. The Russians supplied the faulty missile and we supplied the buyers. Maybe this one dealer can lead us to other dealers...

The arrest took place at a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport after the dealer agreed to sell a highly sophisticated SA-18 missile to undercover agents. Russian undercover agents sent the missile to the United States aboard a ship that docked at an East Coast port. During the trip, the missile was under the control of Russian and American officials, who remained under cover.

There is however this little problem...

Intelligence agencies say Al Qaeda already has dozens of missiles, many of them American-made Stingers left over from the war in Afghanistan in the 1980's when the United States supplied them to Afghan guerrillas seeking to oust Soviet troops from their country. Hundreds of other surface-to-air missiles are reported to be circulating on the black market.

We've been told that these degrade over time but smart people with with enough time/hate/expertise.