Transcripts For FBC Fox Files 20240622

Cars all over the streets of tehran. Who is living the high life will surprise you. Im adam shapiro. Im Catherine Herridge. And this is fox files. Each day almost 2 million americans take to the skies. And all depend on aviation professionals to get home safely. Hello, im adam shapiro. Air Traffic Controllers, those eyes in the towers are key to this. But new hiring practices by the federal Aviation Administration have called into question if the best most qualified people will be working in the towers. Moreover there are accusations of cheating to get the controller jobs. Will you be safe aboard an airplane . Or is there trouble in americas skies . Theyve been called the guardians of the skies. Good morning. Americas air Traffic Controllers manage the safe takeoff and landings more than 87,000 flights a day. Its been called one of the most demanding and stressful jobs in the u. S. 93 go ahead. Never would the importance of what controllers do more apparent than on september 11th 2001. Another one just hit the building. Wow. Controllers scramble to determine which of the thousands of planes on their radar screens had become guided missiles. They also tackled the tremendous logistics of landing 4,000 planes within a few hours. New type of war. Today, the federal Aviation Administration or faa, the Government Agency responsible for air Traffic Control, faces a new crisis. Probably in the next one to three years were going to see some real problems. Doug williams is Program Director of the aviation collegiate Training Initiative or cti program, at the Community College of Baltimore County maryland. Its one of 36 cti schools established by the faa across the u. S. Offering two and fouryear degrees in air Traffic Control. Cti Program Brings in people that are genuinely interested in air Traffic Control. It gives them the skills that are required to be an air Traffic Controller. The faa faces an acute shortage of qualified air Traffic Controllers. Required to retire at the age 56. The faa estimates it needs to hire 1,000 controllers a year for the next ten years to keep air traffic moving safely. The faa actually created the cti program in the early 90s anticipating the retirement. They saw the shortage that was coming. Uhhuh. But williams says recent faa hiring changes are making the problem worse. Fox business brought together six recent cti graduates, all of whom had one dream, to serve the nation in a control tower. Ryan becker grew up around air Traffic Controllers. Your dads an air Traffic Controller. He was. He just retire edd. Ben albany served anyone years in the air force. I directed fighter intercepts from the nato airlines. I love this industry. I love airplanes. Miranda rilely found her lifes passion early. I think its fascinating. This industry is a unique one. Matthew douglas visited a control tower in his native seattle, washington. He was hooked instantly. I like maps. I like spatial information. Its a way to contribute to the community. And make sure everyone gets home safely. I quit a job at google maps to go to school in anchorage, alaska. I made the 2,500mile drive by myself and my dog. My father and grandfather pilots of varying degrees. Lucas johnson grew up around aviation. Air shows, tower tours, ever since i was little. And arianna found her calling in college. I started my sophomore year in aviation because it fit my personality. To pursue a career as air Traffic Controllers, all six entered cti programs. It was the established way to get into air Traffic Control. You go to faa. Gov and its apply to cti school. So thats what i did. After ggraduating the next hurdle was the air traffic selection and training exam. Its an Aptitude Test administered by the faa. Actual control scenarios, games that test your ability to multitask are all skills essential to this job. So was it your understanding that it was the test. It was the test. As i understand it its a zero to 100 score. 85 to 100 is well qualified. Tell me what your score was the last time you took it . I got a 94. Matthew . My score was 100. 93. 6. 85. 100. 86. All achieved the wellqualified status on this crucial test. In late 2013 they were confident they would be hired by the faa to become certified professional controllers, or cpcs. It made sense. The faa always gave hiring preference to cti grads with the highest scores on the test. I had two degrees. I finished my air Traffic Control program with a 4. 0 and i interned for the faa. I think i had a decent chance absolutely. Ben, you had this really high score on the test youre a veteran, which theyre required to actually seek people like you out. What were you thinking say in november of 2013 as the 2014 job bids were about to be announced . I was excited to get the ball rolling. But out of nowhere on december 30th 2013 the faa suddenly informed cti schools and then thousands of their graduates it was completely changing the hiring process. We learned about it in a letter that we received on december 30th 2013 from the faa explaining that they were no longer going to give hiring preference to cti graduates. After years of study, and for many thousands of dollars in Student Loan Debt cti graduates had to start all over. Everything they had worked for was deemed irrelevant. Not only was preferential consideration for their degrees discarded, even the test that crucial Aptitude Test would no longer be a primary requirement. Instead, the faa introduced a socalled buy graphical eded biographical questionnaire. And in february 2014 thousands took this new test. Let me read some of the questions from that test. What has been the major cause of your failures . A question that everyone seems to love is question number 21 in which they ask, the number of different High School Sports i participated in was. And these are multiple choice questions. What did you think . How does this relate to the job . How does this determine whats going to make a successful account . And then what happened . I got an email saying i was not qualified. Anyone else get that email . Sure did. These six and thousands of other wellqualified cti graduates were deemed ineligible. Howd you feel lucas . Just kind of crushed. Lost. You know what am i supposed to do . It breaks your heart to work so hard for something. And for someone to say that youre not legible because of a personality exam. I dont understand how people were not able to proceed. Coming up. There are some valuable pieces of information that i have taken a screen shot of and im going to send that to you via email. Did someone have the answers to the test . That is absolutely sickening. That is cheating. You total your brand new car. Nobodys hurt,but there will still be pain. It comes when your Insurance Company says theyll only pay threequarters of what it takes to replace it. What are you supposed to do, drive threequarters of a car . Now if you had Liberty Mutual new car replacement, youd get your whole car back. I guess they dont want you driving around on three wheels. Smart. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement, well replace the full value of your car. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. In february 2014 thousands of graduates of air Traffic Control schools learned their dreams had been crushed. The primary path to a job in americas towers a path established years before by the faa, was suddenly abandoned. Their degrees were now irrelevant. Scores on the atsat test ignored. Worse, the grads had been deemed ineligible to become controllers. Why . A murky and strange biographical Personality Test newly implemented by the faa to select candidates. Theres no information for us to understand how we can improve or what we can focus onto make ourselves a better candidate. Anybody ever say what made you eligible or not eligible . Weve asked that question also. And members of congress have asked the faa. The faa made some very dramatic changes to the way theyre hiring our air Traffic Controllers. Nobody understands what this biographical questionnaire is evaluating. Ill have from the faa reach out directly to you. This to me is really troubling. Let me read to you what the faa says. This test has been proven to be a valid for experiencing work habits and education dimensions related to work success on the job. And yet just a month later the faa published a different conflicting report titled using biodata to select air Traffic Controllers. It says we conclude that the evidence for using these biodata items for controller selection is weak. Makes no sense. Wheres the logic behind it . If its weak why would you use it . By all accounts whats driving these changes in hiring of air Traffic Controllers is a program to promote diversity in the nations control towers. Diversitys a noble goal. Im not going to sit here and deny that. It generates a better atmosphere when you have people from different backgrounds. And i completely agree with it. Back in 2013 the faa office of civil rights published a massive Barrier Analysis on the impediments or barriers for minorities. It states the first steps of the original hiring process are the most likely places for systematic adverse impact because these steps are responsible for the vast majority of fails. It also says the cti program is much less diverse than off the street hires. The Barrier Analysis. Right. Concluded that youre not diverse. We had completed a diversity study, which showed that we were showing significant progress in helping the diversity within the faa air Traffic Controller ranks. Lucas, are you africanamerican . Yeah. They threw you away. Either theyve got enough africanamericans or they dont really know what they want. Matthew, youre native american right . Correct. Miranda . Female what do you think . I think that they had a goal and they went about it the wrong way. A former air Traffic Controller himself, mike pearson now works as an aviation lawyer. Its my belief that the faa is engaged in a pattern of discrimination and now theyre covering it up. Pearson and others believe diversity advocates strong arm the faa into changing its hiring practices. You had social engineering in my belief my opinion, going on. It was driven by two arms of the faa, two different organizations. One was the Human Resources group. And i believe there was another group engaging in what i believe is discrimination against qualified candidates. What is that organization . The nbc excuse me National Black correlation of aviation employees. The coalition is an Umbrella Group for various minorities. Anybody considered a minority can join. The mbcfae had formed a team now theyre certainly allowed to advocate for their group. Thats legal. The one thing theyre not allowed to do is advocate a group at the exclusion of another group. Pearson suspects the faa abandoned the program and threw away kwfred and welltrained graduates to bring in off the street hires and that way achieve greater diversity. Social engineering at the risk of compromising safety. But theres more. The advocacy on the part of nbcfae appears to go far beyond a change in hiring practices. Fox business obtained a troubling recording made by an fae employee, whos also an nbcfae executive. Id like to play something for you. Associate members, listen. I know each of you are eager, very eager to apply for this job vacancy announcement. And trust after tonight you will be able to do so. It was sent as an audio text to certain applicants who were already members of the organization. Allow me to go to work and come home provide you with an email that will be extremely crucial in the opening stages of this hiring process. There is some valuable pieces of information that i have taken a screen shot of. And im going to send that to you via email. Im about 99. 99 sure that its exactly how you need to answer each question in order to get through the first phase. Utterly disgusting. Just handing out the answers. Thats absolutely sickening. That is cheating at the most unacceptable highest level that ive ever seen right there. Pure and simple cheating. Coming up. Its my belief that the faa is hiding the truth. There are people from the nbcfae who say you gave them the answers on the test. Who do i speak to about this . No comment. In 2014 an audio text message was sent to certain members of the National Black coalition of federal aviation employees. Im going to send it directly to you because its exactly how you need to answer each question in order to get through the first phase. The audio text suggests cheating took place on the Entrance Exam to become an faa air Traffic Controller. You looked very upset as you heard that. I put a lot of effort into this and i havent even gotten a chance. And it sounds like someone gets an email and then they get their chance. Seems very unfair very unjust. And utterly disgusting. Beginning of the faa theres a disclaimer asking you not to share the answers to the test and the questions. And theyve gone and done the opposite. No. Why not . Because i received that voicemail. Why do you want to talk about it . I joined the nbcfae. And when i saw what was going on i knew that i had to stand on the right side of the fence. Though miranda did receive the audio text and the subsequent email with screen shots, she says she did not cheat on the biographical questionnaire. I believe the flying public has a right to know this is going on. I believe the people engaged in this behavior need to be held accountable. We contacted shelton snow the faa employee who sent the text and invited him to be interviewed. But he refused. So we tracked him down in washington, d. C. How are you doing, mr. Snow . Its a simple question i want to ask you why you gave the answers to the students of your test . We had members of the nbcfae said you gave them answers to the biographical questionnaire. He continued to avoid answering our questions. But there are people from the nbcfae who says you gave them answers to the questions on the test. Who do i speak to about this . No comment. Is there they say you gave them the answers. Im just trying to find out if thats true or not. We also contacted the president of the nbcfae. And shes not returned our calls. The faa has said that the cti Program Failed to produce Better Qualified candidates than people right off the street. But fox business obtained an unpublished fae draft document from october 2014 titled studies of next Generation Air Traffic Control specialists. Which directly contradicts this. And heres the actual quote. Overall larger proportions of vra, thats the vets and cti hires achieved certified professional controller status than did general public hires. Theyre saying that the cti Program Benefits the taxpayers, benefits the flying public. Why wont the faa make this public . Its my belief that the faa is engaged in a continual game of hiding the truth, hiding information. From the public on this. Theres numerous congressmen involved in this. So we went to capitol hill. There we spoke to illinois congressman. There is a debate within the faa that the cti programs which they created were being pushed aside for people being hired off the street. And what the faa is saying is that people off the street are just as qualified as people whove gone through cti. I just fundamentally disagree with that. You might get lucky finding a few people qualified and able to do this but again, what ive seen from cti programs youve got passionate people willing to commit themselves to become qualified to be able to serve in these jobs. Congressman is a cosponsor of the air Traffic Controllers hiring act of 2015. The biggest objective is to make sure our air travel is the safest in the world and making sure we have the most qualified people serving as air Traffic Controllers. We played the audio text for him. Its exactly how you need to answer each question. Sounds like cheating. Sounds like someone inside getting information out to people. Very concerning. Since this report first aired, washington has taken notice. The house aviation subcommittee on capitol hill as well as the national air Traffic Controllers association have demanded answers from the faa. Aviation subcommittee chairman Frank Lobiondo commented on the faa scandal. The chairman of the committee and i sent a letter to the inspector general. We got a response that because of our request they will be investigating this. Though the faa has refused to speak with us we were able to reach Joseph Teixeira Vice President of safety and Technical Training about the testing and cheating scandals. He said and this is a quote, its not my area of expertise. Its not my problem. Its a strange response. After all, the faa website describes teixeiras job as one in which he leads the agencys Technical Training and certification of air Traffic Controllers and technicians. The fact that youve got a senior official who basicallys saying its not my area its not my responsibility what does it matter. In so many words what does it matter what does cheating matter . America gets that thats not right. And we have a responsibility on the Transportation Committee and the aviation subcommittee to get to the bottom of it. Thats what were going to try to do. For the cti grads left stranded attorney mike pearson is convinced there is a discrimination complaint. It could be anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 potentially plaintiffs. With thousands of air Traffic Controllers facing retirement the transparent hiring of a work workforce so important to safety and, yes, National Security should be the concern of all americans. These graduates remain committed to aviation. And still one day hope to fulfill their dream of working in the towers. For those still younger than 31 the only path forward is each year try and pass the mysterious some would say dubious, biographical questionnaire. The test was last week was it not . Show of hands who took that test again . Ben, why departmentidnt you take it . You aged out, right . I aged out. Show of hands. You took the test for a second time you got your scores. Who is now eligible to work for the faa . Arianna, congratulations. Thank you. You age out this year. I will never be an air Traffic Controller. And thats heartbreaking. It really is. Theres 3,000 of us who are more than willing to do the work. So if anyone wants to reach out to us please do. Were ready. Were passionate. And we want to work. The bipartisan members of congress that introduced the air Traffic Controllers hiring act stated that the faa has, and this is a quote, clearly jeopardized all travel safety. Those are serious accusations, charges that should be of concern to all americans. Here at fox business were going to stay on this story. For all of us at fbn, im adam shapiro. Have a safe flight. When this equipment landed in libya, half went one way, and half went the other. Thats next. When cigarette cravings hit, all i can think about is getting relief. Only nicorette mini has a patented fastdissolving formula. It starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. I never know when ill need relief. Thats why i only choose nicorette mini. Friday night, buddy. You are gonna need a wingman. And my cash back keeps the party going. But my Airline Miles take it worldwide. [ male announcer ] it shouldnt be this hard. With creditcards. Com, its easy to search hundreds of cards and apply online. Creditcards. Com. Here at the Td Ameritrade trader group, they work all the time. Sup jj . Working hard . Working 24 7 on mobile trader, rated 1 trading app in the app store. It lets you trade stocks options, futures. Even advanced orders. And it offers more charts than a lot of the other competitors do in desktop. You work so late. I guess you dont see your family very much . I see them all the time. Did you finish your derivative pricing model, honey . For all the confidence you need. Td ameritrade. You got this. Im Catherine Herridge on capitol hill. Its been nearly three years since ambassador Chris Stevens, Foreign Service officer sean smith and former navy s. E. A. L. S. Murdered in benghazi libya. And even today congressional investigators doubt they have all of the emails from mrs. Clintons server from when she was secretary of state. In this fox files investigation, new details are emerging about what president obamas team and members of congress knew about weapons pouring into the region during the chaotic arab spring in 2011. This would come under secretary clintons watch. American arms dealer at the center of a federal investigation involving libya, syria and turkey. Hes president of the Defense Group that for decades has been licensed and regulated by the state department to move hundreds of weapons around the world. He spoke exclusively to fox news. If a certain country is brokering various types of equipment, we try to get involved. Primarily weapons and ammunition transportation logistics, government liaison. Turi says hes haunted by what he thinks happened when there was a failure to see what happened to the weapons pouring into syria, libya and middle east. Following u. S. Policy are referred to as end users. In 2011 turi pursued libya as a Business Opportunity as dictator Moammar Gadhafis regime was falling apart. If you had a properly allocated supply chain, where you had everything under control, you would have had our personnel receiving that equipment on the ground in libya. And then taking it back to a warehouse under our control and then giving it to vetted sources. If they would have followed that procedure, maybe ambassador stevens and sean smith and ty woods and glen dorty would be alived to. Turi shared emails from 2011. Indicates military contacts both inside and outside of government encouraged him to explore arguments for arming the opposition. I kept getting information from my associates with members of congress saying theres still interest, keep going. We asked fox news senior judicial analyst judge Andrew Napolitano to review some of the email traffic between turi and members of congress. Well unless mr. Turi concocted these emails, which would be nearly impossible he has presented sound documentary ir rerefutable evidence to show that this was a covert operation, a grand conspiracy if you will. One thinks and one wonders when one sees the constellation of political superstars who signed off on this and you get back to the emails that members of Congress Absolutely knew about it. Turis initial application to sell weapons directly to the libyan opposition was denied. It made perfect and very clear sense because the tnc was not a recognized entity in the world. Which means they could never have signed an end user statement. So the only person or organization or entity i could deal with was the u. S. Government. This sworn affidavit released in may 2015 and obtained by fox news indicates a covert weapons operation was authorized. Turis partner and adviser was this man, david manners, during his 18year career at the cia he served as the top spy in jordan and in the former czechoslovakia. He stated in his expert opinion, the United States did participate directly or indirectly in the supply of weapons to the libyan Transitional National council. Thats where i came up with this zero footprint arabarab kind of supply chain. Our foreign ally supplies another arab country. Turi says it was a workaround. Because at the time the u. S. Had not officially recognized the rebels under the tnc. My deal was to set up a warehouse where the only person that could take that equipment out or the only entity that could take that equipment out of qatar or uae was the u. S. Government. As part of the workaround the u. S. Would supply conventional weapons to another u. S. Ally qatar. Theres 60millimeter mortar with optics 120millimeter mortar all conventional type weapons. If you want to limit the exposure to the u. S. Government what you simply do is outsource it to your allies. The partners the qataris and the em ratties did exactly what they were contracted to do. During Hillary Clintons term as secretary of state, u. S. Arms dealers were awarded a Record Number of export licenses to sell sophisticated weapons, military parts and technology internationally. Salina is a professor of National Security at the National Defense university. Thats actually been a huge policy position of the Obama Administration was to actually overall to improve u. S. Exports overseas. In 2011 more than 86,000 licenses with a value of 44. 3 billion were granted. A surge of more than 10 billion from the previous year. If you would like to engage in on sales and youre a u. S. Manufacturer manufacturer you seek license and apply for an export license with the state department. Served under secretary clinton. That rol is actually responsible for overseeing this entire export control process at the state department. March 2011 was a busy time for Hillary Clinton and her team which included Andrew Shapiro and senior advisedviser on the 14th with Chris Stevens serving as thendeputy chief spoke with mustafa. The next day met with egyptian leader and in Tahrir Square with abadine. A 267 Million Contract was working its way through official channels. My application was submitted on the 12th. These brokers then through their relationship with the tnc then provided that application information to mrs. Clinton via the tnc council when she was in cairo. Thats what was told to me. In an email. Turi also showed fox emails from april 6 and 7, 2011 that he exchanged with Chris Stevens personal email account alerting him to his application to sell weapons. Stevens replied with a thank you. And ill keep it in mind and share it with my colleagues in washington. He is the point guy now. Coming up what does this recently released email from secretary clinton tell us about her secret strategy to arm the rebels in libya . I built my business with passion. But i keep it growing by making every dollar count. Thats why i have the spark cash card from capital one. I earn unlimited 2 cash back on everything i buy for my studio. And that unlimited 2 cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business. Thats huge for my bottom line. Whats in your wallet . Its one of the most Amazing Things we build and it doesnt even fly. We build it in classrooms and exhibit halls, mentoring tomorrows innovators. We build it raising roofs, preserving habitats and serving americas veterans. Every day, thousands of boeing volunteers help make their communities the best they can be. Building Something Better for all of us. In early april 2011 arms dealer marc turi was exchanging emails with Chris Stevens. On april 8th 2011 this heavily redacted email recently released to the Benghazi Committee shows secretary clinton was interested in arming the rebels using contractors. Fyi, the idea of using private Security Experts to arm the opposition should be considered she wrote. The following month, turi received this preliminary approval letter from the state department for his 267 million arms proposal for qatar. In july his arizona home was raided by federal agents. They came in with full body armor and weapons. They take my computers and my cell phones. And theyve been chasing me all over the world for the past three years. Speaking to associates of mine all over the United States and looking into my records and my past. Now turi is facing trial set for this september on two counts that he allegedly violated the arms export patrol act by making false statements. His attorney told fox in emails that his client had a track record working for the u. S. Government through the Central Intelligence agency. And the governments case is an epic fishing expedition. And his client neither lied on any application nor did he do anything other than support u. S. Foreign policy and interests in the middle east. In his youth, turi made some mistakes and fox confirmed he served time in an arizona jail. Nonetheless, since the 1990s turis company met the strict state department criteria to sell and move weapons around the world in support of u. S. Operations. Turi insists he never shipped any weapons to qatar. And others stole the zero footprint idea. Why isnt the state department contacting me about making a mistake on my application . The state department had a lead on this. They were going to run it with their people. And who that is i have no idea. I sat back and watched this unravel. And it went south really quick. Turi says he heard disturbing reports from his contacts on the ground in libya about weapons ie raving from qatar and falling into the wrong hands. When this equipment landed in libya, half went one way, and half went the other way. The half that went the other way is the half that ended up in syria. This Defense Intelligence Agency Report recently obtained by a Judicial Watch lawsuit provides further confirmation weapons were flowing unchecked in the weeks leading up to the 2012 attack. Quote, weapons from the former Libyan Military stockpiles were shipped from the port of benghazi libya, to the port of benias and the port of borj in syria. Ships five days before the benghazi assault, this is what thensecretary clinton told senator rand paul in her only testimony todate. Now, my question is is the u. S. Involved in any procuring of weapons, transfer of weapons, buying selling, anyhow transferring weapons to turkey out of libya . To turkey . Ly have to take that question for the record. Nobodys ever raised that with me. Its been in news reports that ships have been leaving from libya and that they may have weapons. And what id like to know is the annex that was close by were they involved with procuring, buying selling, obtaining weapons . And were any of these weapons being transferred to any countries, any countries, turkey included . Well senator, youll have to direct that question to the agency that ran the annex. I will see what information is available. Youre saying you dont know . I do not know. I dont have any information on that. Two weeks after that testimony this state Department Letter was sent to senator paul. It skirted his question stating the u. S. Government is not involved in any transfer of weapons from libya to turkey. You know when this comes out as a result of the work that were doing, the fury ought to be amongst the 95 of congress who were not informed of this who did not have a say in it even though the constitution says only congress can declare war. Mrs. Clinton effectively ran a secret state department within the state department. Fox news is reaching out to current and former government officials whose names appear in the emails. You can read more about our ongoing reporting at fox news and foxbusiness. Com. Cars are the biggest thats next on fox files. Exotic cars lavish apartments and sleek shopping complexes. Fox files cameras captures these images inside the Islamic Republic of iran. Ayatollah khomeinis revolution was meant to make piety rather than purchasing power the status symbol. But as most of iran now struggles under sanctions, a small group of superrich iranians are living large. Cars are the biggest status symbol in iran. Fox files sat down with chairman of the london based biba. Cost a Million Dollars and you have to pay 100 . Somebody driving in tehran you have to have paid 2 million. Iran is a country of traders and Business People for the last 3,000 years. We never see houses priced in the region of 5 to 25 million. An iranian economist based in london. People who have six or seven super luxury cars porsches lamborghinis. Porsche opened a dealership in tehran. And in 2011 sold more cars than in any other middle eastern country. The people who have no problem driving expensive cars in iran. So who are these elite iranians buying up multimillion dollar apartments and driving around in fancy cars . With tough International Sanctions in place, how do they manage to accumulate such fantastic wealth . What started defense bli as a religious movement in 1978 has evolve into a mafia like organization that controls business and all elements of iranian society. Mark wallace is a former u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform. Hes currently ceo of united against nuclear iran. What youve seen since the revolution is the mullahs and religious elites infiltrateing that economy. Theres a select group of elite clerics who have become filthy rich through political corruption. Through part of the political apparatus, they have benefitted or significantly. And in april in tehran the crashed a porsche, there was an outpouring of resentment over perceived hypocrisy over the tragedy. Not only the young woman was not the mans fiancee but some wondered how the ayatollahs grandson got the porsche in the first place. Many of the super rich linked to irans unusual and complex network of charitable foundations. Fox news has reported extensively on the ongoing case of irans new york based charity. One of the quickest ways to make huge amounts of money is to become an important person. Born after the iranian revolution these socalled Charity Foundations confiscated assets from the fleeing royal family existing businesses and ordinary iranians. In many cases powerful clerics used them as their own personal fund. Selling without paying taxes. This system is kept in place by the iron fist of irans Islamic Revolutionary guard corps, the irgc socalled preblgt protectors of the regime. The Iranian Elite have for many years purchased and sought the finest of western goods. Unfortunately over the years because of petro dollars, the elites have had the ability to purchase these goods. Pressure by uani and others caused porsche to close its tehran showroom. And in may 2012 car company fiat announced it would stop doing business with the Islamic Republic. Has it become much more difficult for these rich iranians to get their hands on cars or whatever else they buy . If you want it they would find a way of getting the cars to you. Most often through the United Arab Emirates just across the gulf from iran. The emirates because of very historic trading routes has been a key trading partner both legally and illegally for many years. There still is Illicit Trade in iran and loopholes. It is probably the best time now to make money in iran as the corruption has become endemic. All this as many average iranians squeak by on the equivalent of less than 5,000 a year yet pay as much as at least as americans do for meat and other staples. The resentment must fill i would think. Or are these People Living in such rubble they dont come into contact with average or lower income iranians . That could through resentment. I think youre seeing a great people an industrious hard working people fed up with the thee karatic dictatorship. When heartburn comes creeping up on you. Fight back with relief so smooth. Its fast. Tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue. 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To massive ridge lines like heart break. And they arenting to mess with us. The hill battles of korea. Thats next on war stories. This statue is called the morning soldier