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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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January 9th,
2009 - Report: Iraq Security Contractors Poorly Managed |
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Report: Iraq Security Contractors
Poorly Managed By Richard Lardner The Associated Press January 9, 2009 Washington - The State
Department has poorly managed a nearly $2 billion deal with Blackwater
Worldwide and other security contractors in Iraq, according to a report from
the agency's inspector general, which cites failures to station guards in the
right places and weak oversight as key problems. The report also criticizes
department officials in Baghdad for turning control for vehicles, weapons and
communications gear provided under the contract over to a "personal
services" company that supervises six Blackwater employees. This is a
"poor management practice" that may violate federal acquisition
regulations requiring such work to be done by the government. "This arrangement is
particularly troubling because Blackwater personnel have inspected their own
company," says the report, sent to members of Congress on Friday. Despite the shortcomings,
the more than 1,000 guards from Blackwater, Dyncorp International and Triple
Canopy have been very effective in protecting State Department personnel
working in Iraq, the inspector general says. The report does not say how
much money has been wasted due to management inefficiencies. The contract, called World
Wide Personal Protection Services, expires in September. Bidding for a new
security contract is expected to open soon. Neither the department's
Bureau of Diplomatic Security nor the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has done
studies to determine how many security personnel are needed In Iraq, where to
put them or what kind of weapons they need, the report says. The result has
been inefficiency. In one example, several
dozen security guards from Triple Canopy were posted in 2007 at Tallil
Airbase in southern Iraq, home to three Provincial Reconstruction Teams. Yet
for a six-month period, no one left the base because it was too dangerous
outside. In August 2008 at a nearly
empty regional embassy office in northern Iraq, 14 Dyncorp security personnel
were assigned to protect a single Foreign Service officer. This week, five former
Blackwater Worldwide security guards pleaded not guilty to federal
manslaughter and gun charges resulting from a 2007 shooting in a crowded
Baghdad square that killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured dozens of others. In Washington, where the
contract is managed, there have been six different officers responsible for
overseeing it since July 2004. There's also been a heavy turnover of the
support staff that has "significantly undermined" the
administration and oversight of the contractors. The contract requires the
companies to submit roster sheets to show their people are present and
available for work. But there was no attempt to ensure the accuracy of these
sheets so there was no way to verify the labor costs before they were paid.
Investigators found all three companies have had repeated difficulties
maintaining enough emergency medical technicians, marksmen and interpreters. The State Department had no
immediate comment on the report. External link: http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jan/09/state-security-contract-010909/?zIndex=34583 |