Posted on 09/02/2009 4:17:48 AM PDT by BradtotheBone
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Clinton ordered an investigation on Tuesday into the Animal House revels of private guards at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan - including booze, hookers and other "deviant behavior."
"These are very serious allegations, and we are treating them that way," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said of photo and e-mail evidence of the "climate of fear and coercion" at the living quarters of ArmorGroup guards.
The investigation by the State Department's inspector general follows a shocking report to Clinton by the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight detailing a "Lord of the Flies environment" at the Camp Sullivan compound a few miles from the embassy in Kabul. Prostitutes allegedly were brought in for birthday parties, drunken guards engaged in brawls and boozy lawn parties turned into naked affairs where guests urinated on one another, according to photos and videos obtained by the nonprofit group.
Clinton has "zero tolerance" for the behavior described and has directed a "review of the whole system" for farming out security to private contractors that may have threatened the safety of embassy personnel, Kelly said.
Earlier, hearings in June by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), head of the subcommittee on contractor oversight, questioned whether the contract with ArmorGroup, now owned by Wackenhut Services Inc., should be renewed.
In a separate letter to Clinton, McCaskill said the Project on Government Oversight report "calls into question the ability of the contractor to provide sufficient security for the embassy."
Wackenhut did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The report found sleep-deprived guards regularly logging 14-hour days, language barriers that impair critical communications and a failure by the State Department to hold the contractor accountable.
About 300 of the 450 ArmorGroup guards employed to protect 1,000 personnel at the embassy are Nepalese Gurkhas and the rest are a mix of Australian, South African and American expats, the oversight project report said.
Although the Gurkhas were described as "serious about their jobs," their difficulty with English had forced the English speakers to "use pantomime in order to convey orders or instructions," the report said.
"One guard described the situation as so dire that if he were to say to many of the Gurkhas, 'There is a terrorist standing behind you,' those Gurkhas would answer 'Thank you, Sir, and good morning,'" the report said.
Toga, toga, toga!
Toga’s would be easy to find over there.
Hookers, drunken nude parties, people urinating on each other? Sounds like a three day weekend at the Kennedy compound. Why are Rats outraged?
She's definitely qualified for this. Her marriage to Bill gives her the background to lead this type of inquest.
Blame the Australians. They know how to party.
ROTFLMAO!!!
actually kinda tame by liberal standards. look at the fulsom street fair in san fran for an example of what they consider ok.
1)Where they on duty?
2)Do we know that the pictures were taken at the embassy and not at another location?
3)Is this just to make the private contractors/military look bad?
and nobody invited ME?
In a later report, Sec. State Clinton has sent her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to Afghanistan to investigate these charges. President Clinton, in a telephone interview, said that it would take him at least six months of detailed research in Afghanistan to reach a conclusion.
Jack
On the good side, at least this US taxpayer money
did not go directly to ordnance to kill Americans,
or as bribes to free captured murderous terrorists.
I would say that Hillary is invetigating these guards because they aren’t treating her like the Queen that she thinks she is. Remember the stories of her treatment of the White House staff?
I’m thinking that my copy of “Lord of the Flies” must have been edited. I don’t remember any drinking, prostitutes or pissing..........
“boozy lawn parties turned into naked affairs where guests urinated on one another”
this is anti US propaganda for muslim ears. It’s intended for a muslim audience.
I call Typical Liberal BS on this entire “story”.
“Study conducted by a nonprofit public interest group” my broad hairy butt.
Only bright side: If they were still using Marines as embassy guards, the crap would have been miles deeper and twice as smelly.
I guess Hillary can't stand the thought of our folks over there acting like the Clintons... they might out "deviant behavior" her husband!
Hillary is upset that she wasn't invited...
Oh, the pure shock of it all!
It is ironic that Hitlery is launching an investigation of deviant behavior in Afghanistan. She had has no trouble overlooking it in her personal life.
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