Here's a suggestion for anyone planning a vodka-soaked debauch while working a government security contract: Leave the digital cameras at home.
Josh Rogin at The Cable confirms that the State Department is ending its contract ArmorGroup, the private security outfit that held the $187 million embassy security deal in Kabul. Allegations of poor contractor performance first surfaced back in 2007, but the department took no action until employees were caught -- quite literally -- with their pants down.
But not all is lost for ArmorGroup: State Department spokesman Mark Toner told Rogin that the State Department has informed the company it will receive a six-month contract extension while State hunts for a replacement. That's after (!) the current contract expires in June.
In many respects, it's a repeat of the Blackwater/Xe conundrum in Iraq. As I noted back in September, Xe had its operating license revoked by the Iraqi government after its guards were accused of killing civilians in a Baghdad in 2007 -- but its aviation services contract in Iraq was still extended by State, nearly two years after the incident.
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