Security

Whistleblowers vs. the 101st Tequila Brigade

Last week, allegations surfaced that the contracted guard force at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul had descended into a booze-soaked debauch. The drunken antics weren’t the worst part: An investigation by the Project on Government Oversight and previous congressional testimony raised larger concerns about the State Department’s management of its private security guards in Afghanistan, […]

armorgroup_coronaLast week, allegations surfaced that the contracted guard force at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul had descended into a booze-soaked debauch. The drunken antics weren't the worst part: An investigation by the Project on Government Oversight and previous congressional testimony raised larger concerns about the State Department's management of its private security guards in Afghanistan, and ArmorGroup, which holds the $187 million embassy security contract, was accused of cutting corners to put in the winning bid.

Now the whistleblowers are coming forward. This week, two former employees of ArmorGroup fired a lawsuit against the firm claiming they were forced out for blowing the whistle on employee misconduct and other problems. But the most shocking allegation was raised by whistleblower James Gordon, former director of operations at ArmorGroup, who claimed that the firm quashed an investigation into employees frequenting brothels in Kabul that housed trafficked women.

Spencer Ackerman has this key paragraph:

Perhaps most seriously, Gordon said that he found out that both guards and even ArmorGroup program manager Nick Du Plessis were regularly frequenting brothels in Kabul. “Many of the prostitutes in Kabul are young Chinese girls who were taken against their will to Kabul for sexual exploitation,” Gordon said. Federal contracting regulations designed to support the Trafficking in Victims Protection Act prevents contractors from “procuring commercial sex acts during the period of performance of the contract,” meaning that ArmorGroup could lose its contract if State learned of the violation. Yet Gordon’s lawsuit alleges he was shut out of an investigation into the solicitation of prostitutes at the behest of Armor Group’s London-based parent company, despite recurring evidence that ArmorGroup employees continued to solicit prostitutes and perhaps even run their own prostitution services. A trainee boasted to Gordon “that he could purchase a girl for $20,000 and turn a profit after a month.”

It's strongly reminiscent of the decade-old DynCorp scandal in Bosnia. The company became embroiled in a controversy over military contractors buying and "owning" young women, many of whom had been forced into prostitution. Two DynCorp employees were fired after they complained that co-workers were involved in Bosnia's sex-slave trade. While several DynCorp employees were dismissed, none were brought up on criminal charges; the whistleblowers were later vindicated in whistleblower-relation lawsuits. DynCorp remains a top security provider to the State Department.

[PHOTO: POGO]

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