WHO LET THE KHAZAEE IN?

A nation worshiping diversity must accept perversity along with it.  At least that's what I make of the news that our government welcomed this charming Iranian fellow into our fold. We also granted him citizenship, not insisting that he drop his allegiance to his Iranian homeland. And just to make him feel accepted, we let him work on two of our most secret aircraft programs.  Is this a great country or what?

He is Mozaffar Khazaee, 59, lately of Connecticut.  He had been working as an engineer on the super secret F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as well as the engine for the F-22.  Homeland Security apprehend him attempting to leave the country via Newark Airport after previously attempting to export "Sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and proprietary material" related to the project out of the country in a shipping container.  ABC News reported that according to court documents,  Kahazaee "...worked as an engineer for several defense contractors, leaving his last employer last August."  According to the BBC, he was laid off.  If convicted, he faces up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine.  Amazingly, Mozaffar his been back to visit his kith and kin five times in the past seven years.  And of course he had dual passports.

What are we to make of this?

First, I must wonder exactly what a security clearance consists of now.  Just how do you not get one? This case must set some sort of legal precedent, as anyone denied a clearance from now on has a good case to make.  If the government gave one to this guy, on what grounds can they deny one to Charley Manson?   He is a citizen of a country with which we are continually on the cusp of war.  He went back and forth repeatedly, beyond the limits of any surveillance.  And well, just look at his face! At that rate, the Iranians needn't have paid him.  His frequent flyer miles would have been compensation enough.

Second, precisely why didn't American employers hire an American?  At least when we commit espionage we don't have a ready-made bolt hole.  It's really a shame that the press won't ask this, even when their own jobs are at risk via the Bashirs and Piers Morgans of the world.  Is it asking too much that our aerospace companies train some of us, - preferably someone with only one passport?

Third, if this character attempted espionage by stuffing numerous bundles of hard copy in with his vacuum cleaner and prayer rug, I'm guessing that he is not Iran's answer to Reilly Ace of Spies.  It looks like he made a few bucks here, got laid off, and decided to return with a little something to sell as a bonus.  Either that, or the Iranian spy network is remarkably low rent.  The wretch may just be a casual betrayer of our national security in the way security guards pilfer candy while guarding department stores.

But in a way, can we blame him?  We obviously don't care for our own workforce or security.  We have so little respect for our own national interest, it's a bit ungenerous to expect him to have any.  Like so many aliens among us, he saw that this is just a good place to do business.

UPDATE
It turns out that as well as being an Iranian citizen, Khazaee has an alias and had filed for bankruptcy in 2005.  So he is, in the ancient vernacular of my youth, a deadbeat.  So he is an foreign deadbeat with an alias and - a security clearance.  This madness is all the more bizarre if you consider that in order to be a TSA Screener, you must have a clean credit history.

I will continue to investigate this story as it looks to have endless possibilities.