Weapons of massdestruction?

"In a series of articles which are on the internet and some MSM media, it is apparant that Austria is responsible for deaths of US troops in Iraq. This was after warnings and requests by the US government and the British government not to proceed with a deal to supply high-quality sniper rifles, the Steyer .50 caliber (see Wikipedia), manufactured by Steyer-Mannlicher, to Iran. These "friends" in the Austrian government ignored the requests and warnings and proceeded with the sale of the weapons for the so-lame excuse of supplying them "to fight drug smugglers". According to an article in the International Herald Tribune:

"The U.S. imposed sanctions on Steyr in December 2005, forbidding it from obtaining U.S. export licenses to do business in America. The Austrian government condemned the decision at the time, saying it made no sense to punish the company after the fact.

Holzschuh said there were still U.S. sanctions against his company.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said it had also raised the issue with the Austrian government shortly after the sale.

"We discussed it privately with the Austrian government shortly after the sale," a Ministry of Defense spokesman said, on condition of anonymity in line with government policy. "Now the potential that these weapons could fall into the wrong hands appears to have happened.""

Read the rest of this excellent article over at Flanders Fields