Afghanistan Closes Firm Providing Security

NewYork Times ^ | January 5th 2012 | GRAHAM BOWLEY

[Cardhu]

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government said Thursday that it was shutting down the operations of one of the largest foreign security companies operating in the country after detaining two of its contractors on suspicion of gun smuggling.

After months of growing tension between the government and foreign security contractors, the decision marks a sharp escalation into public action by the Afghan authorities.

President Hamid Karzai is in the midst of replacing foreign security contractors with Afghan guards.

The Interior Ministry said it was immediately withdrawing the company’s license, although the company, GardaWorld, a private Canadian security outfit, said it was in discussions with the government and hoped to be able to continue to operate.

The Interior Ministry said that the contractors, two Britons, who were detained on Tuesday after being found with an arsenal of unlicensed AK-47 assault rifles in their sport utility vehicle, were among the 341 Afghan guards and 35 foreign contractors employed by GardaWorld in Afghanistan.

[dagogo redux]

Karzai will have been assassinated by his own people long before the day when we are next attacked by forces linked to that landscape - at which point, if we do it right next time, we’ll simply stay home and nuke the hell out of any little population centers and infrastructure they’ve manage to create in imitation of a “civilization.”