Editor's Note: After you've seen the video below, get the full story in a new blog post from POGO's Joe Newman.
By ANDRE FRANCISCO
New video released by ABC shows U.S. defense contractors in Afghanistan stumbling drunk and stoned on sedatives while on the job.
The contractor, Jorge Scientific, has a contract to train Afghan police, according to ABC News. Military personnel and defense contractors are strictly prohibited from consuming alcohol or drugs, but it looks like there was very little oversight of Jorge Scientific.
Project On Government Oversight Executive Director Danielle Brian was quoted in the ABC story as saying,
It has got to be that there is more of a sense of oversight on the part of the military and the U.S. government to make sure these contractors are not actually undermining the diplomatic mission with their behavior.
POGO has been following the behavior of U.S. defense contractors in Afghanistan for years, including an investigation into similar behavior by the defense contractors guarding the U.S. embassy in Kabul.
Andre Francisco is an online producer for the Project On Government Oversight.Follow @andrefrancisco
Hats off to these two "whistleblowers." Let's hope the official reaction is not to charge them with some offense. Meanwhile, let's call these "defense contractors" what they really are: War profiteers. Why are taxpayers footing the bill (and our soldiers paying the price in casualties) for these blood-suckers?
Posted by: Bill Combs | Oct 22, 2012 at 12:30 PM
this is why our troops are getting fried in the shower for morons like this. seems to be making a profit and have no standards or responsibly that come with it. the enemy is over there not contractors behaving badly.
Posted by: lea mac leod | Oct 21, 2012 at 01:30 PM
I have repeatedly asked my senator for data on the amount of savings and "efficiency" we have realized since the outsourcing of military functions to contractors. Are you surprised to learn that the silence has been deafening?
The fact is that outsourcing to contractors does not result in savings to the treasury for the simple reason that profits and CEO pay eat up any "efficiency", and the "efficiency" is greatly overestimated and overblown.
Is there corruption in governments? Of course there is some in most of them. Is there corruption in private industry? Just ask Wall Street and Enron! Corruption does not favor one over the other. It is an equal opportunity blight. It is a human trait. My bet goes with it being higher in private industry because there is little to no oversight.
Posted by: Nora M | Oct 20, 2012 at 07:32 PM
This is disgraceful. I cannot believe we can't find honest decent people to fill these jobs. Better yet our military would be far better. The disgusting people who promote this behavior are no better than traitors to our country.
Posted by: Patricia, Grass Valley, CA | Oct 20, 2012 at 01:50 PM
Their is no government oversight in any project any more. America no longer runs the military programs but sells them to the highest payoff and forgets they exist.
Posted by: Jack | Oct 20, 2012 at 12:43 PM
We can't fire these contractors. If we use US Army troops to do their jobs, there will be no rich CEO who gets richer by skimming his exhorbitant salary off the top of what we pay these guys to act like drunks on parade. Without these rich CEO getting richer, who will provide kickbacks and bribes to our Senators and Congressmen? Who will be there to lobby for our endless wars?
Posted by: Dfens | Oct 18, 2012 at 04:25 PM
The contractors hired for the Army's CSEPP program liked to hold work-related meetings at Hooters.
Posted by: LM Lewis | Oct 18, 2012 at 02:39 PM
This is outrageous. They ALL should have been fired without severance and investigated criminally. They behave this way AND they're armed? Every other night? Disgusting. As a US Army veteran I am appalled!
Posted by: Sam Shields | Oct 18, 2012 at 01:28 PM