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February 24th,
2010 - US Army’s Lax Supervision Cited in Blackwater Case News article from Agence
France Presse |
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US Army’s Lax Supervision
Cited in Blackwater Case From Agence France Presse February 24, 2010 Washington - The US Army's
lax supervision was cited in a Senate investigation of controversial private
security firm Blackwater, which allowed employees to use weapons without
authorization in Afghanistan. At the outset of a
months-long probe, the Senate Armed Service Committee found several cases of
"reckless" use of weapons by personnel from Paravant, a subsidiary
of Blackwater, itself now renamed Xe Services. The panel pointed to an
hiring process lacking rigor, with some employees having criminal records. It also found that several
rules on the acquisition and use of arms in Afghanistan were violated, while
US military officials turned a blind eye. "Why is the issue of
armed contractors in Afghanistan so important?" asked Democratic Senator
Carl Levin, who chairs the committee. "I guess the bottom
line is that in the fight against the Taliban, the perception that the
Afghans have of us is critical." He was speaking on the eve
of a hearing before the panel on the case about the military contractor. US
Army contracting officials and representatives of the company are expected to
testify. In fall 2008, Paravant
became a subcontractor of defense contractor Raytheon to fulfill a mission to
train Afghan security forces. On May 5, 2009, two Paravant
employees in Afghanistan - Justin Cannon and Christopher Drotleff - opened
fire during a traffic incident in Kabul, killing two unarmed Afghan civilians
and wounding three others. The pair have since been arraigned on murder and
weapons violations charges. The Justice Department said
the incident created diplomatic problems for the United States in
Afghanistan, with consequences for US security interests, according to the
panel. In December 2008, Paravant
employees were seen perusing a street sitting atop a rolling vehicle, with
AK-47 assault rifles in hand. A bump in the road made one of the arms unload
a volley of bullets, seriously wounding one employee in the head. According to the committee,
it was not until the May 2009 incident that military officials began looking
into Paravant. "Hopefully, the army is
going to be much more ... careful (about) who we contract with," Levin
told reporters. The panel noted that
Paravant instructors were not authorized to bear arms. Investigators found
that Blackwater-Paravant obtained weapons from a warehouse reserved for
Afghan security forces. The facility, known as
Bunker 22, was under US military control. According to Levin, only
several of the "hundreds" of weapons unlawfully held by the
subsidiary have been returned so far. Meanwhile, two Democratic
lawmakers proposed a bill to ban the federal government and the US military
from using subcontractors in combat zones, namely in Iraq and Afghanistan,
where tens of thousands of troops are deployed. The secretive Blackwater was
thrown into the spotlight after five of its guards were accused of killing 14
unarmed Iraqis in a gun and grenade attack, and wounding 18 others during a
September 2007 incident at the busy Nisur Square in Baghdad. Earlier this month, Iraq
expelled 250 former employees of the security firm. The North Carolina-based
firm lost its contract to provide security for US embassy diplomats in
Baghdad in May 2009 after Iraqis and critics repeatedly accused it of
adopting a cowboy mentality to duties in the country. Copyright © 2010 AFP. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5giehAd4hKVtMNeoYmW2-0czmkWhg |