Private Contractors

TPM Investigates: Army Tries To Rein In Rampant Afghan Fuel Theft

Susan Crabtree | March 7, 2011, 7:59AM

The U.S. Army is getting rid of its "pen and paper" and "string and stick" method of tracking fuel use in Afghanistan after nearly a decade of mismanagement, theft and fraud resulting in what is likely hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in lost fuel, some of which is sold on the black market and has ended up in Taliban hands.

The highest levels of the U.S. military have deep concerns about the rampant robbery, and the U.S. Army this week is beginning to implement, base by base in Afghanistan, a computerized accounting system aimed at making it easier to track the disappearing fuel.

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Commission On Wartime Contracting

Highway Robbery! U.S. Losing Hundreds of Millions To Rampant Afghan Fuel Theft

Susan Crabtree | March 3, 2011, 11:55AM

After nearly a decade of mismanagement, theft and fraud, the U.S. military still hasn't found a way to staunch the flow of what is likely hundreds of millions -- if not billions -- of dollars in lost fuel in Afghanistan, some of which is sold on the black market and winds up in Taliban hands, a TPM investigation has found.

With political unrest in the Middle East sending oil over $100 per barrel and Congress more intent than ever at cutting government waste, fraud and abuse in tough budgetary times, the Defense Department is under intense pressure to find a way to monitor and track the flow of fuel in and out of its bases in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The extensive corruption associated with disappearing fuel in Afghanistan provides another illustration of the problems associated with the heavy use of private contractors on the battlefield. Earlier this week, the non-partisan Commission for Wartime Contracting reported that the U.S. government has spent $117 billion on private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002, and tens of billions of those dollars have been wasted.

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Wikileaks

Wikileaks Releases Docs Showing Pakistan-Taliban Cooperation Against U.S. In Afghanstan

Rachel Slajda | July 26, 2010, 9:50AM

Soldiers in Afghanistan

The web site Wikileaks has released 92,000 documents related to the Afghanistan War, many of them classified, that paint a bleak picture of the ongoing war.

Wikileaks released the documents, which amount to a daily war diary dating from 2004 to 2009, to the New York Times, Der Spiegel and The Guardian, in addition to publishing them online themselves.

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War In Afghanistan

McChrystal Quote Suggests Flippant View Of Civilian Casualty Policies

Justin Elliott | June 22, 2010, 3:24PM

Gen. Stanley McChrystal and a convoy in Serobi, Afghanistan

One of the hallmarks of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan are new rules of engagement that, whether or not they are effective, are designed to reduce killing of civilians by American planes and soldiers.

That's why it's surprising to see McChrystal quoted in the big Rolling Stone profile seeming to take a decidedly flippant view of those very policies. Greg Sargent and Marcy Wheeler highlighted this passage:

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War In Afghanistan

Blackwater Snags $120 Million Contract In Afghanistan

Justin Elliott | June 21, 2010, 1:51PM

private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Whether or not Erik Prince is fleeing America for the United Arab Emirates, his military contracting company continues to thrive on lucrative government contracts.

The latest: the Obama Administration has awarded Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, with a $120 million contract to provide security for U.S. consulates in Afghanistan. The contract could last as long as 18 months.

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Afghanistan

Gov't Geologist Spoke Of Vast Economic Benefit Of Afghan Minerals -- Over Two Years Ago

Justin Elliott | June 14, 2010, 12:38PM

The Hindu Kush mountains overlooking the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan

American geologists who assessed Afghanistan's mineral deposits realized the potentially vast economic benefits of the minerals as far back as 2007, according to U.S. Geological Survey documents from that time.

The New York Times story this morning reporting the "discovery" in Afghanistan of a $1 trillion trove of minerals like lithium has already been the focus of plenty of scrutiny from journalists questioning how new this discovery, which was presented by the Obama Administration as a potential game-changer, really is.

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War In Afghanistan

Gen. McChrystal: We've Shot 'An Amazing Number Of People' Who Were Not Threats

Justin Elliott | April 2, 2010, 3:09PM

Gen. Stanley McChrystal and a convoy in Serobi, Afghanistan

In a stark assessment of shootings of locals by US troops at checkpoints in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said in little-noticed comments last month that during his time as commander there, "We've shot an amazing number of people and killed a number and, to my knowledge, none has proven to have been a real threat to the force."

The comments came during a virtual town hall with troops in Afghanistan after one asked McChrystal to comment on the "escalation of force" problem. The general responded that, in the nine months he had been in charge, none of the cases in which "we have engaged in an escalation of force incident and hurt someone has it turned out that the vehicle had a suicide bomb or weapons in it."

In many cases, he added, families were in the vehicles that were fired on.

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Kabul Shooting

Coke, Booze, Assault: Blackwater Contractors' Past Revealed In Murder Case

Justin Elliott | January 25, 2010, 6:35PM

SUV involved in May 2009 traffic incident

The two former Blackwater contractors who were charged this month with murder for the shooting death of two Afghan men left the military with other-than-honorable discharges for behavior ranging from assault to going AWOL and testing positive for cocaine, according to service records that surfaced in bond hearings, the AP reports.

A judge in federal court in Virginia has ordered Christopher Drotleff and Justin Cannon held in custody; arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday. The judge called Drotleff "a danger to the community based on the nature of the charged offense, his history of alcohol abuse and criminal and military history which include crimes of violence."

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War In Afghanistan

Number Of Private Security Contractors In Afghanistan Doubles In Just Four Months

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 10:00AM

Private security operators from the British company ArmorGroup escort a supply convoy near Tal Afar, Iraq on October 19, 2006.

The military is increasingly relying on private security contractors as President Obama ramps up the war in Afghanistan, with contractors now making up as much as 30% of the armed force in the country, a just-released congressional report shows.

In the period roughly tracking with President Obama's first nine months in office, the number of Defense Department armed security contractors soared 236% -- from 3,184 to 10,712 between December 2008 to September 2009. The number roughly doubled between June and September 2009 alone.

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Fox and Friends

Doocy On Bible Rifle Scopes: If Anybody's Making This A Religious Thing, The Terrorists 'Started It' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 8:44AM

Fox's Steve Doocy came out this morning with a new defense of the controversial U.S. military rifle scopes featuring inscriptions that cite the New Testament: if anyone made America's wars about religion, our Muslim extremist foes started it!

"My wife made a good observation yesterday when we were taking about this story, and that is, 'Hey, wait a minute, the Taliban and the extremists -- what is it they say just before they blow themselves up which kills somebody, they say, 'Allahu Akbar.'' So if anybody's making this a religious thing, they started it," Doocy said.

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Trijicon

Despite Extensive Online Discussions, Military Denies Knowledge Of Rifle Scope Bible Verses

Justin Elliott | January 18, 2010, 6:20PM

Trijicon scope's Bible verse pointed out on YouTube last year.

Responding to the revelation that rifle sights used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan are inscribed with Bible citations, a Marine Corps spokesman told TPMmuckraker today that the branch simply didn't know about the inscriptions until inquiries were made last week.

But posts on gun enthusiast forums from as early as 2006 and Youtube videos watched thousands of times extensively discuss the Bible verses on the Trijicon rifle sights, casting doubt on the military's claim that it was unaware of what was apparently a poorly kept secret.

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Trijicon

U.S. Rifle Scopes In Iraq And Afghanistan Feature Bible Verse Citations

Justin Elliott | January 18, 2010, 1:21PM

Iraqi police officer in Hayy, Iraq, looks through Trijicon scope with Bible verse in March, 2009 (magnified below).

Here's one that will play well in the Muslim world.

ABC is reporting that soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been using rifle scopes that bear abbreviated references to Bible verses, including lines like "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

That verse is rendered on tiny letters on the the scopes, made by Wixom, Michigan-based Trijicon, as "2COR4:6" referring to chapter 4, verse 6 of the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians.

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Kabul Shooting

Contractors' Attorney: Blackwater Is Scapegoating My Clients In Kabul Murder Case

Justin Elliott | January 14, 2010, 8:45AM

SUV involved in May 2009 traffic incident

A lawyer for the Blackwater contractors charged last week with killing two men in Kabul says his clients were thrown under the bus by a company desperate to preserve its standing with the Afghan government, after another shooting case in Iraq led to a crackdown on its operations in that country.

Directly after the Kabul shooting last May, Blackwater went into crisis mode, Attorney Daniel Callahan tells TPMmuckraker. That same month, the company fired the two contractors who were charged last week, as well as two others who were involved in the incident, for violating the company's drinking policy.

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War In Afghanistan

The Blackwater Kabul Shooting Case: What Do We Know?

Justin Elliott | January 12, 2010, 12:39PM

private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Amid a busy news week, the indictment Wednesday of a pair of former Blackwater contractors for the alleged murder of two Afghan civilians hasn't gotten much attention. But the case has the potential to become a big problem for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, and for Blackwater's future business prospects in that country.

The particulars of what happened last May 5 -- including whether the contractors had been drinking and whether they were acting in self-defense -- are in dispute, but everyone agrees the shooting occurred after a traffic accident in Kabul.

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War In Afghanistan

Blackwater, Already On The Ground In Afghanistan, Now Gunning For More Contracts

Justin Elliott | December 21, 2009, 12:23PM

A Blackwater Aviation crew member prepares to drop supplies to an outpost in Bandar, Afghanistan, in 2007.

It looks like the Obama Administration just can't quit the company formerly known as Blackwater.

A Xe official told the Commission on Wartime Contracting Friday that the company has contracts for security as well as for training Afghan police and a "drug interdiction unit." Xe is also in the running for more work in Afghanistan. The comments of Xe Vice President Fred Roitz were first reported by the Virginia Pilot.

It's been a difficult year for Xe, with several former guards facing manslaughter charges over the shootings in Baghdad's Nisour Square that left 17 civilians dead, and company founder Erik Prince declaring he plans to leave the business.

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War In Afghanistan

Dem Rep Launches Probe Of Alleged Contractor Payments To Taliban

Justin Elliott | December 17, 2009, 9:04AM

A convoy of trucks leave Kandahar Air Field.

Private security contractors in Afghanistan are being accused of paying protection money to warlords and the Taliban along convoy routes, prompting an investigation by a House oversight committee.

Walter Pincus at the Washington Post has the story this morning. The staff of Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) has begun an investigation of eight trucking companies that hold a combined $2.2 billion in DOD contracts in Afghanistan.

Tierney, chairman of the House oversight subcommittee on national security and foreign affairs, said in a statement:

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War In Afghanistan

DOD: Obama's Afghan Surge Will Rely Heavily On Private Contractors

Justin Elliott | December 15, 2009, 9:29AM

DynCorp instructor with police recruits in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, June 2008.

Private contractors will make up at least half of the total military workforce in Afghanistan going forward, according to Defense Department officials cited in a new congressional study.

As President Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan unfolds, the number of contractors will likely jump by between 16,000 and 56,000, adding up to a total of 120,000-160,000, according to an updated study from the Congressional Research Service.

DOD officials who spoke with the study's author said contractors would make up 50-55 percent of the total workforce -- troops plus contractors -- in the future. This would actually be a significant reduction from the last two years, when contractors have averaged 62 percent of the total.

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War In Afghanistan

Stock Analyst: Obama's Surge Good News For Security Contractor

Justin Elliott | December 3, 2009, 6:33PM

DynCorp instructor with police recruits in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, June 2008.

The White House isn't sure if Obama will be hiring more private contractors for the Afghan war -- there are currently 104,100 in the country -- but one financial analyst thinks it's a go. Reports the AP:

Engineering and construction firm Fluor Corp. and contractor DynCorp International Inc. stand to benefit from the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, an analyst said Thursday.

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War In Afghanistan

Will Obama Expand Afghan War Contractor Force? Gibbs Says He'll Look Into It

Justin Elliott | December 3, 2009, 1:17PM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

Now that we know there are 104,100 private contractors who make the war in Afghanistan possible, TPMDC put the question to Robert Gibbs this morning: will the Obama Administration expand that contractor force, as it sends 30,000 more troops?

Gibbs told our Christina Bellantoni this morning that he isn't sure, but will try to find out.

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War In Afghanistan

How Many Private Contractors Are There In Afghanistan? Military Gives Us A Number

Justin Elliott | December 2, 2009, 2:37PM

Private contractors employed by the Defense Department in Afghanistan will continue to outnumber the size of the American troop presence, even after President Obama sends 30,000 more soldiers to fight in the war, according to the military's most recent contractor count.

The latest figure on DOD contractors in the country is a whopping 104,100, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command tells TPM. That number, which is expected to grow, is already greater than the 98,000 U.S. troops that will be in the country after the new deployments.

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War In Afghanistan

As Obama Sends More Troops, Giant Shadow Army Of Contractors Set To Grow In Afghanistan

Justin Elliott | December 1, 2009, 3:09PM

Contractors watch for threats on plane departing from Forward Operating Base Sharana in Eastern Afghanistan in May of 2009.

With President Obama addressing the nation tonight about a new escalation in Afghanistan, a perennially underexamined topic is once again receiving short shrift: the huge force of contractors, which as of June outnumbered the size of the U.S. troop presence itself, is likely to swell.

The Administration seemingly hasn't addressed the issue, and the word "contractor" doesn't appear much in media coverage -- for example, in the Times and Post stories on the escalation today.

But David Berteau, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells TPM that as Obama increases troop levels to at least 100,000, "there will definitely be an increase in the number of contractors."

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War In Afghanistan

The (Coming) Surge In Afghanistan: Brought To You By Kim And Fred Kagan?

Justin Elliott | September 28, 2009, 11:39AM

AEI's Frederick Kagan and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal

Frederick Kagan, the neoconservative think-tanker best known as the architect of the surge in Iraq, continues to have access to Gen. Stanley McChrystal as an adviser after serving as part of a team producing the recent assessment of the Afghan war, a spokesman for the general tells us.

It had been reported that Kagan and his wife, military historian Kimberly Kagan, were part of the group that advised McChrystal on the high-profile assessment that warns of "mission failure" if more troops are not sent. But it wasn't previously known that Kagan's work with McChrystal extended beyond the review.

It's striking that Kagan, who writes for the Weekly Standard, guest blogs at National Review, and advised the Bush Administration on Iraq, is now advising President Obama's top commander in Afghanistan.

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War In Afghanistan

Study: More Contractors In Afghanistan Than Military Personnel -- Highest Ratio Ever

Justin Elliott | September 1, 2009, 11:44AM

Private contractors depart from airfield in Sharana, Afghanistan

Private Defense Department contractors outnumber the ranks of uniformed U.S. military in Afghanistan, according to a Congressional Research Service study obtained by the invaluable Secrecy News.

As of March, there were over 68,000 contractors in Afghanistan and over 52,000 military personnel (Read the report in .pdf format here.)

At 57% of total Defense Department workforce, the number of contractors represents "the highest recorded percentage of contractors used by DOD in any conflict in the history of the United States," the study concludes.

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