Two more security firms have won contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to build the State Department a private army in Iraq. The department confirms to Danger Room that longtime Iraq contractor Triple Canopy and newcomer Global Strategies Group will contribute to State's planned protection force of 5,500 contractors.
In September, the State Department announced that eight security firms would share in a $10 billion contract to guard diplomats. Both Triple Canopy and Global were among those firms, which have the right to bid on so-called "task orders" for protecting specific department operations around the world. One of the first task orders awarded was to SOC, to safeguard the Baghdad embassy, a deal that would net the company up to $973 million over five years.
At the time, that looked like a slap to Triple Canopy, which has provided security forces for the massive compound since 2005, earning itself $438 million in the process. But it turns out Triple Canopy won't be going anywhere -- despite a warning about the firm from State's own watchdogs.
In response to Danger Room queries, the State Department confirms that on February 10, it tapped Triple Canopy for "protective services" for diplos in Baghdad. SOC will guard the embassy itself, in what's called "static security," while Triple Canopy will perform "protective security services" for its residents. When diplomats travel around the Iraqi capitol, it'll be guards for Triple Canopy who'll protect them.
Triple Canopy has been doing that work since Iraq kicked Blackwater out in 2009 and the State Department (briefly) ended its contract with the firm. It's more lucrative than guarding a building. If State re-ups with Triple Canopy for the full five-year span of the task order, Triple Canopy will earn $1.53 billion.
The company doesn't have the same controversial reputation as other private firms. But the State Department's inspector general raised red flags about Triple Canopy in a March 2010 audit. The firm doesn't adequately enforce English-language proficiency standards for its crew of 1800 guards, most of whom come from Uganda and Peru. That's a potential security liability in the event of an attack on the embassy, when the guards will have to corral hundreds of English speakers to safety.
What's more, the company doesn't provide decent housing conditions for its non-American guard force. The inspector general found they "live in crowded barracks and shipping containers," which are over maximum occupancy capacity by as much as 400 percent.
The other security contractor is the British firm Global Strategies Group, which won a task order to provide both protective and static security for diplomats at the Consulate General in the southern city of Basra. That contract is worth up to $401 million over five years.
Global is something of a jack of all trades in the defense contracting world. In Afghanistan, it guards the Kabul airport and worked to screen the movement of cash through it, an anti-corruption measure that appears to have earned it the ire of President Hamid Karzai. But it's also held contracts spanning from engineering ($358 million, with the Naval Research Laboratory) to providing vehicle transponders ($285,000, with the Army ) to lots of security-guard duties for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.
It's not clear how many guards each company will have to provide. A statement the State Department prepared for Danger Room merely says that the total 5,500 guards projected to work for State in Iraq "will be subject to further refinement" as the department "continues to plan and coordinate" the departure of U.S. troops from the country by year's end.
There are still three major State Department facilities in Iraq awaiting task orders for security contractors: the placid Erbil outpost in Kurdistan and the volatile consulates in multiethnic Mosul and Kirkuk. One contractor is expected to win a task order for both of those two cities, according to State.
As the December 2011 date for leaving Iraq draws nearer, some in the U.S. military are getting skittish about leaving. House Speaker John Boehner endorsed keeping a "small" residual force in Iraq past the deadline, which would require renegotiating a 2008 bilateral accord that the Iraqi leadership hasn't requested to revisit. But whatever happens with the troop withdrawal, the State Department is moving forward with its plan to field a private security force of thousands -- something it's never, ever done before and lacks a roadmap for commanding.
Photo: U.S. Army
See Also:
- Meet the New Frontline Bloggers: Security Contractors
- 5500 Mercs to Protect U.S. Fortresses in Iraq
- Mercs to Watch Commandos' Backs in Afghanistan
- Exclusive: Blackwater Wins Piece of $10 Billion Mercenary Deal ...
- Blackwater's New Ethics Chief: John Ashcroft
- Despite Drawdown, Big Bucks for Baghdad Embassy Security
