NAVY 'LOSES' $3 BILLION OF EQUIPMENT AND BLAMES THE MESS ON -- WHAT ELSE? -- COMPUTERS

It is unsettling to read reports from the General Accounting Office that detail the blunders of our most revered institutions -- errors that cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

The latest disclosure follows an audit of the Navy, which during the period from 1995 to 1998 "lost" missile launchers, night-vision goggles and other military equipment valued at $3 billion.

In reality, the GAO audit said, the Navy actually received the equipment but has such a lousy accountability system that it didn't know it.

Which means top-secret arms might just as easily have wound up in the hands of the bad guys.

The Navy, in response, blamed the mess on computers. But an admiral promises to fix the situation by November.