Post by Jay on Sept 4, 2009 8:08:01 GMT -5
Security at the United States Embassy in Afghanistan has been seriously compromised by mismanagement and misbehavior among civilian guards and their supervisors, according to reports by a Congressional subcommittee and a nonprofit oversight organization.
In a report delivered Tuesday to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Project on Government Oversight accused ArmorGroup North America, which was hired in 2007 to provide security, of “a pattern of blatant and longstanding violations,” which resulted in a “pervasive breakdown” in discipline and morale among guards at the embassy in Kabul, which employs about 1,000 people, including American diplomats and staff members as well as Afghans.
Much of the report echoes the same warnings issued by a Senate subcommittee months ago, including reports that many guards spoke so little English that they communicated by pantomime, and that staffing shortages meant guards had to work 14-hour shifts for weeks at a time.
The report delivered Tuesday also includes anonymous testimony from dozens of American guards who provided lurid details of hazing and other abuses.
The oversight group’s report said guards worked in a “ ‘Lord of the Flies’ environment,” where they and their supervisors groped and urinated on one another. They cite photographs that suggest guards have drawn Afghans into activities forbidden in a conservative Muslim country.
“Multiple guards say this deviant hazing has created a climate of fear and coercion,” the report said, “with those who declined to participate often ridiculed, humiliated, demoted or even fired.”
The report accuses the State Department of being complicit in the problems, citing numerous letters in which the agency expressed concerns about security deficiencies at the American mission in Kabul and threatened to terminate ArmorGroup’s contract. Yet in sworn testimony to Congress, the report said, department officials said the problems had been fixed. And the State Department renewed the company’s contract through July 2010.
“From our investigation into this situation,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the oversight group, “we think State is an equal partner in the failure here.”
In responding to questions about the report, the State Department spokesman, Ian C. Kelly, said that it contained “very serious allegations” and that it was under review by the agency’s inspector general. When asked about the State Department’s oversight, Mr. Kelly said, “I can’t really address a lot of these issues because they’re under investigation.”
ArmorGroup is owned by Wackenhut Services Inc. Officials at Wackenhut did not respond to a request for comment.
In its letter to Mrs. Clinton, the oversight group recommended that she ask the Pentagon to oversee security at the embassy in Kabul, which last month was hit with at least eight rockets, including two that landed close to the American compound. On Aug. 15, a suicide bomber struck close to the embassy, leaving 7 dead and 91 wounded.
www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/world/asia/02embassy.html
In a report delivered Tuesday to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Project on Government Oversight accused ArmorGroup North America, which was hired in 2007 to provide security, of “a pattern of blatant and longstanding violations,” which resulted in a “pervasive breakdown” in discipline and morale among guards at the embassy in Kabul, which employs about 1,000 people, including American diplomats and staff members as well as Afghans.
Much of the report echoes the same warnings issued by a Senate subcommittee months ago, including reports that many guards spoke so little English that they communicated by pantomime, and that staffing shortages meant guards had to work 14-hour shifts for weeks at a time.
The report delivered Tuesday also includes anonymous testimony from dozens of American guards who provided lurid details of hazing and other abuses.
The oversight group’s report said guards worked in a “ ‘Lord of the Flies’ environment,” where they and their supervisors groped and urinated on one another. They cite photographs that suggest guards have drawn Afghans into activities forbidden in a conservative Muslim country.
“Multiple guards say this deviant hazing has created a climate of fear and coercion,” the report said, “with those who declined to participate often ridiculed, humiliated, demoted or even fired.”
The report accuses the State Department of being complicit in the problems, citing numerous letters in which the agency expressed concerns about security deficiencies at the American mission in Kabul and threatened to terminate ArmorGroup’s contract. Yet in sworn testimony to Congress, the report said, department officials said the problems had been fixed. And the State Department renewed the company’s contract through July 2010.
“From our investigation into this situation,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the oversight group, “we think State is an equal partner in the failure here.”
In responding to questions about the report, the State Department spokesman, Ian C. Kelly, said that it contained “very serious allegations” and that it was under review by the agency’s inspector general. When asked about the State Department’s oversight, Mr. Kelly said, “I can’t really address a lot of these issues because they’re under investigation.”
ArmorGroup is owned by Wackenhut Services Inc. Officials at Wackenhut did not respond to a request for comment.
In its letter to Mrs. Clinton, the oversight group recommended that she ask the Pentagon to oversee security at the embassy in Kabul, which last month was hit with at least eight rockets, including two that landed close to the American compound. On Aug. 15, a suicide bomber struck close to the embassy, leaving 7 dead and 91 wounded.
www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/world/asia/02embassy.html
