Blackwater Will Be Allowed to Bid on Big State Department Contract

GUANTANAMO BAY — A brief detour from my Guantanamo coverage, as a State Department official, speaking only on background, confirmed something else I’ve been working on. The private security company formerly known as Blackwater and now known as Xe Services, will be allowed to bid on the next generation of More…

State’s Inspector General Says Failed Oversight on ArmorGroup ‘Will Be Made Public’

At a House Oversight subcommittee hearing on Afghanistan, the State Department’s inspector general, Howard Geisel, made his first public comments about ArmorGroup, the State Department security contractor accused of physical and sexual harassment. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) asked Geisel, whose office has opened an investigation into the oversight More…

Kabul Embassy Fires Contractors Gone Wild

The AP in Kabul reports that the U.S. Embassy there has cashiered eight of the ArmorGroup security contractors accused of “lewd behavior and sexual misconduct,” as well as ArmorGroup’s in-country management team.

This smells more like crisis management than accountability. For one thing, as the Project on Government More…