Sun Editorial:

A contract gone awry

Lewd behavior by private embassy guards in Afghanistan should not be tolerated

Monday, Sept. 7, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

One ongoing problem with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has been the inability of the U.S. government to properly oversee private contractors who are given lucrative contracts to help provide security, engineering and construction expertise in those countries. Both the Pentagon and State Department have done poor jobs of making sure these contracts have been adequately fulfilled, resulting in a substantial waste of taxpayers’ money.

Nothing, though, quite compares to the embarrassment caused by lewd and drunken private security guards who were hired to protect the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Anyone who has watched televised news in recent days surely has glimpsed photos of the guards — some of them naked — partying at their off-site living quarters as though they were adolescents far away from adult supervision. This is going on while American soldiers in Afghanistan are losing their lives and the embassy itself has been targeted by insurgent rocket attacks and suicide bombers.

Thanks to the attention drawn to this situation by the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight, a Washington organization that investigates misconduct within the federal government, the State Department has launched an investigation of contractor ArmorGroup North America. The Associated Press reported last week that the embassy has banned alcohol at the guards’ living quarters and assigned American personnel to watch over them.

Our view is that the offending guards and any supervisors who allowed this unprofessional conduct to occur should be replaced by individuals who recognize the importance of keeping the embassy safe.

This, of course, is yet another example of the potential pitfalls caused by privatization of government services. If the government takes its eyes off a contractor, there is no telling what might occur, including fraud, unprofessional behavior and waste of taxpayers’ money.

We understand that the military is stretched thin by the armed conflict, but it is inexcusable to leave security of an embassy in a war zone to a private outfit that cannot even control its own personnel.

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By mred

Sept. 7, 2009

7:02 a.m.

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Viet Nam, the Philippines, etc. Americans have always acted ugly. Why don't we draft the teabaggers and dittoheads to do guard duty?
By neiman1

Sept. 7, 2009

8:09 a.m.

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Much better to have government employees. Look at Metro, best drivers you can find.
By KillerB

Sept. 7, 2009

8:20 a.m.

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Sun -- although I have a problem with military jobs being filled with non-military, you're overlooking the fact these guys were off work, in their private quarters, on their own time.

Balance this report with the events at military prisons in both Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly the beating death of Dilawar in military custody in the latter. Read about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilawar_(to...)