State Department Inspector General Documents AGNA Antics in Afghanistan

The State Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) today released a damning performance evaluation of ArmorGroup North America (AGNA), the contractor responsible for guarding the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Among the revelations from today's OIG report:

 

• AGNA employed, and the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security failed to scrutinize, “Nepalese guards without verifiable experience, training, or background investigations in violation of its contract.”
  
  
• “AGNA cannot account for 101 U.S. Government-furnished weapons that have been missing since 2007. AGNA used U.S. Government-furnished weapons for training rather than required contractor-furnished weapons.”
  
  
• “AGNA regularly allows individuals who are not vetted by Embassy Kabul’s regional security office unescorted access to Camp Sullivan, a U.S. Government-owned camp containing sensitive materials.”

The report confirms and expands on the findings of our investigation last year, which pulled back the curtain on a "Lord of the Flies environment" that had taken hold of the Embassy security guard force.

Lewd and obscene photos of AGNA security guards helped our investigation garner considerable attention—but the key revelation, as detailed in our letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was that the State Department was failing to conduct oversight of a contractor performing an incredibly important service. Today's OIG report is just one more piece of evidence demonstrating that the State Department continues to struggle in its oversight of private security contractors.

Find statements by POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian and POGO investigator Jake Wiens here.

ArmorGroup’s contract expired on June 30, 2010, but the company will continue to guard the Embassy through the end of 2010. The State Department has selected EOD Technology, Inc. (EODT) to take over security at the Embassy.

-- Bryan Rahija

See also:

• Testimony of Danielle Brian before the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan Regarding Private Security Contractors
• Senate Report Says ArmorGroup Funded Warlords In Bed With the Taliban
• Did Triple Canopy Instruct Its Guards to Lie to State Department Investigators?
• Kabul Embassy Deja Vu
• Kabul Embassy Guards Back in the Spotlight
• POGO Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding U.S. Embassy in Kabul