[Peace-discuss] US hot dog mercs

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Did you see this in US media?]

	Embassy guards 'dress as Afghans'
	By Kim Sengupta in Kabul
	Friday, 4 September 2009

Private security contractors guarding America's embassy in Kabul dressed as 
mujahedin fighters and went out on unauthorised night-time military operations 
in the Afghan capital, according to reports being investigated by the US State 
Department.

The dossier, seen by The Independent, tells how 18 guards, who are not trained 
for such missions, exposed the embassy to attack by taking weapons from its 
armoury. By removing night-vision goggles, they also left embassy staff "largely 
night-blind" in the event of an emergency, the reports adds.

The company which employed the contractors, ArmorGroup North America (AGNA), is 
the subject of a highly critical report by the Project on Government Oversight 
(Pogo), an independent monitoring group which has sent its findings to the 
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. While other claims have centred on 
drunkenness and sexual misconduct in the guards' quarters at Camp Sullivan 
outside Kabul, the new revelations will have a direct impact on security at a 
legation that Washington acknowledges is a prime target for terrorists.

During their foray into Kabul in the spring of this year, guards are said to 
have photographed themselves taking part in the "undercover" operation, later 
posting the images online.

The report reveals that, instead of taking action against the guards involved, 
AGNA gave them a mocked-up citation which improperly bore the seal of the US 
State Department and praised them for their "intrepidity".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/embassy-guards-dress-as-afghans-1781479.html