Pubdate: Fri, 08 Oct 2010
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Nathan Hodge

U.S. CONTRACTORS EMPLOYED TALIBAN

Senate Investigation Says Military Depends On Private Security Forces Rife
With Criminals, Drug Users And Insurgents

WASHINGTON-A yearlong investigation by a Senate panel has found
evidence that the mostly Afghan force of private security guards the
U.S. military depends on to protect supply convoys and bases in
Afghanistan is rife with criminals, drug users and insurgents.

The Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry, based on interviews with
dozens of military commanders and contractors and a review of over 125
Pentagon security contracts, found evidence of "untrained guards,
insufficient and unserviceable weapons, unmanned posts" and other
failings that put U.S. troops at risk.

More alarming, the report alleges that some local warlords who have
emerged as key labor brokers for private security firms are also
Taliban agents.

Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), the chairman of the committee, said
failures to adequately vet private security contractors in Afghanistan
poses "grave risks" to U.S. and allied troops. The overall lack of
proper contractor supervision, he added, poses a fundamental threat to
the U.S. mission.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered that all security firms in
Afghanistan be dissolved by the end of the year, though that process
has only just begun. Coalition officials have supported the effort
because of concerns about the private forces, but say the
alternative-the Afghan police-isn't yet competent enough to take over
the job.

The majority of the private security contractors are Afghan; companies
employing them are both international and locally based. The Senate
inquiry focuses on the role of Department of Defense contractors, but
the State Department also employs private guards.

According to U.S. Central Command figures cited in the report,
Afghanistan has more than 26,000 private security personnel, 90% of
whom are working under U.S. government contracts or
subcontracts.

Doug Brooks, the president of International Peace Operations
Associations, a group that represents security firms, said the report
highlights the difficulty in complying with contract requirements to
provide local hires. "There's not a huge amount of choice in the local
hires they can use," he said. "Where are they going to get guys who
have never smoked hashish, who have never worked for the Taliban or
who have never considered joining the Taliban?"

The investigation, quoting a Naval Criminal Investigative Service
report, said "contractors have been known to shoot at Marines" and
that Afghan security personnel were often "high on drugs" while at
their posts.

In one case, Senate investigators found, a Marine was killed earlier
this year by U.S.-funded security contractors who opened fire on a
Marine foot patrol in Farah province.

In another example, the son of a man who provided staff for a guard
force at a coalition facility was "suspected of being an agent of a
hostile foreign government," likely shorthand for Iran.

The inquiry singles out two security firms-ArmorGroup, a subsidiary of
U.K.-based G4S PLC, and EOD Technology Inc., or EODT, of Lenoir City,
Tenn.-for relying on dubious local power brokers, including
individuals described in U.S. military reports as Taliban affiliates
and criminals.

An ArmorGroup spokesman said the company "engaged workers from two
local villages as stated by the Senate Report-but did so only upon the
recommendation and encouragement of U.S. Special Forces."

The company's personnel "remained in close contact with U.S. Special
Forces personnel to ensure that the company was constantly acting in
harmony with, and in support of, U.S. military interests and desires,"
the spokesman said.

EODT said in a statement it "has never been advised by the U.S.
military" of problems with its hiring practices. The company said it
has cooperated with the investigation and "stands ready to engage the
U.S. military or other stakeholders about these issues in order to
improve our internal processes and contract performance."

A contractor interviewed by investigators described the local guard
force recruiters as "straightforward 1920s Chicago."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D