In an article the New York Times wrote roadside bombings of American troops in Iraq were occurring with unnerving regularity when military investigators made a disturbing discovery: American-made computer circuits sold to a trading company in the United Arab Emirates had turned up in the bomb detonators.
That finding set off a clash with Washington last year when the Bush administration cited the diversion of the computer circuits to Iran, and eventually Iraq, as proof that the United Arab Emirates were failing to prevent American technology from slipping into the wrong hands. Administration officials said aircraft parts, specialized metals and gas detectors that have a potential military use had also moved through Dubai, one of the emirates, to Iran, Syria or Pakistan.
In 2005, the discovery of an American-made computer circuit in an unexploded roadside bomb in Iraq transformed what had been a polite diplomatic exchange into a nasty dispute.
By reading a serial number on the chip and studying shipping records, American investigators determined that it had moved from the manufacturer, AMD of Sunnyvale, Calif., to Mayrow General Trading in Dubai. It went to Iran, then turned up in Iraq in “limited numbers” of roadside bombs, a federal official involved in the inquiry said.
The diplomatic face-off, which drew little public attention, prompted the United States to threaten tough new controls on exports to the United Arab Emirates.