Senate report slams Afghan security contractors

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Senate report slams Afghan security contractors

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer Anne Flaherty, Associated Press Writer

– 1 hr 15 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Heavy U.S. reliance on private security in Afghanistan has helped

to line the pockets of the Taliban and threatens the safety of coalition troops

because contractors often don't vet local recruits and wind up hiring warlords

and thugs, Senate investigators said Thursday.

The report by the Senate Armed Services Committee follows a separate

congressional inquiry in June that concluded that trucking contractors pay tens

of millions of dollars a year to local warlords for convoy protection.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate panel, said he is worried the U.S. is

unknowingly fostering the growth of Taliban-linked militias and endanger U.S.

and coalition troops at a time when Kabul is struggling to recruit its own

soldiers and police officers.

" Almost all are Afghans. Almost all are armed, " Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said

of the army of young men working under U.S. contracts.

" These contractors threaten the security of our troops and risk the success of

our mission, " he told reporters. " There is significant evidence that some

security contractors even work against our coalition forces, creating the very

threat that they are hired to combat. "

" We need to shut off the spigot of U.S. dollars flowing into the pockets of

warlords and power brokers who act contrary to our interests and contribute to

the corruption that weakens the support of the Afghan people for their

government, " he added.

The Defense Department doesn't necessarily disagree but warns that firing the

estimated 26,000 private security personnel operating in Afghanistan in the near

future isn't practical.

This summer, U.S. forces in Afghanistan pledged to increase their oversight of

security contractors and set up two task forces to look into allegations of

misconduct and to track the money spent, particularly among lower-level

subcontractors.

The Defense Contract Management Agency has increased the number of auditors and

support staff in the region by some 300 percent since 2007. And in September,

Gen. Petraeus, the top war commander in Afghanistan, directed his staff to

consider the impact that contract spending has on military operations.

But military officials and Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee

warn that ending the practice of hiring local guards could worsen the security

situation in Afghanistan.

They say providing young Afghan men with employment can prevent them from

joining the ranks of Taliban fighters. And bringing in foreign workers to do

jobs Afghans can do is likely to foster resentment, they say.

Also, contract security forces fill an immediate need at a time when U.S. forces

are focused on operations, commanders say.

" As the security environment in Afghanistan improves, our need for (private

security contractors) will diminish, " Petraeus told the Senate panel in July.

" But in the meantime, we will use legal, licensed and controlled (companies) to

accomplish appropriate missions. "

Levin says he isn't suggesting that the U.S. stop using private security

contractors altogether. But, he adds, the U.S. must reduce the number of local

security guards and improve the vetting process of new hires if there's any hope

of reversing a trend that he says damages the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

His report represents the broadest look at Defense Department security contracts

so far, with a review of 125 of these agreements between 2007 and 2009.

The review concludes there were " systemic failures " in the management of the

contracts, including " widespread " failures " to adequately vet, train and

supervise armed security personnel. "

The panel's report highlights two cases in which security contracting firms

ArmorGroup and EOD Technology relied on personnel linked to the Taliban.

Last week, EOD Technology was one of eight security firms hired by the State

Department under a $10 billion contract to provide protection for diplomats.

A statement released by EOD Technology said the Lenoir City, Tenn.-based company

had been encouraged to hire local Afghans and that it provided the names of its

employees to the military for screening. The company said the military has never

made it aware of any problems with its handling of the contract.

In the case of ArmorGroup, the Senate panel says the company repeatedly relied

on warlords to find local guards, including the uncle of a known Taliban

commander. The uncle, nicknamed " Mr. White " by ArmorGroup after a character in

the violent movie " Reservoir Dogs, " was eventually killed after a U.S. raid that

uncovered a cache of weapons, including anti-tank land mines.

ArmorGroup, based in McLean, Va., lost a separate contract this year protecting

the U.S. Embassy in Kabul after allegations surfaced that guards engaged in lewd

behavior and sexual misconduct at their living quarters.

Pitcher, a spokeswoman for Wackenhut Services, ArmorGroup's parent

company, said the company only engaged workers from local villages upon the

" recommendation and encouragement " of U.S. special operations troops.

Pitcher said that ArmorGroup stayed in " close contact " with the military

personnel " to ensure that the company was constantly acting in harmony with, and

in support of, U.S. military interests and desires. "

The allegation that contractors rely on warlords for local hiring is not new.

Last June, a Democratic House investigation led by Massachusetts Rep.

Tierney concluded that trucking companies had " little choice " but to pay local

warlords " in what amounts to a vast protection racket. "

Army criminal investigators are examining the allegations, specifically looking

at whether companies hired under a $2 billion Pentagon contract to transport

food, water, fuel and ammunition to troops were paying up to $4 million a week

to insurgent groups.

In August, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced that private security

contractors would have to cease operations by the end of the year. The workers,

he said, would have to either join the government security forces or stop work

because they were undermining Afghanistan's police and army and contributing to

corruption.

U.S. officials responded that they shared the goal but wanted to move slow

enough that military efforts weren't impacted.

Levin says he blames lost money to the Taliban on a lack of government oversight

until this year. He previously has blamed the Bush administration for not

devoting enough resources to the war in general.

Led by Arizona Sen. McCain, committee Republicans endorsed the

investigative findings in a voice vote last month. But in a statement included

in the report, they said Levin's investigation " falls short of providing a more

robust discussion of how slim our options were at the time. "