Texas plumber's truck on front line of Syria war

[jakeXT]

3. Remids me of this old story: Stolen U.S. vehicles end up as bombs in Iraq, FBI says

Stolen U.S. vehicles end up as bombs in Iraq, FBI says

Published: Monday, July 16, 2007

WASHINGTON — Fifteen years after U.S. states were directed to share motor vehicle information in a national database, only nine states have done so, making it nearly impossible to identify hundreds of thousands of stolen vehicles - including a small but steady number that end up as car bombs in Iraq.

FBI officials said they believe the database could help break up far-flung terrorist networks, which are using vehicles stolen and smuggled from the United States.

Bought and sold on the international black market, cars and trucks help fund criminal operations and can be turned into the terrorist weapon of choice against U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians: vehicles packed with explosives. The FBI declined to estimate how many stolen U.S. cars have turned up as car bombs in Iraq but said the number is believed to be at least in the dozens.

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System was created in 1992 to thwart motor vehicle thefts, but it remains a patchwork repository at best.

Authorities say the system, which has the potential to track every car or truck in the country by its vehicle identification number, has languished because of years of local government inattention, a lack of urgency among state motor vehicle departments, and inconsistent federal funding.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/world/americas/16iht-16cars.6683928.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0