WASHINGTON — An independent reform group is contending that security at the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan is compromised by the failings of a private contractor hired to protect the nearly 1,000 diplomats and staff who work there.
The Project on Government Oversight made its points in a letter sent Tuesday to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The group said its investigation of State’s contract with ArmorGroup North America found sleep deprived guards logging 14-hour days, “humiliating hazing and deviant behavior by supervisors,” and reprisals against employees who objected to misconduct and mismanagement.
The evidence describes what the group called a “Lord of the Flies” environment at Camp Sullivan, which is a few miles from the embassy in Kabul. The oversight group’s findings are based on interviews with ArmorGroup guards, documents, photographs and e-mails.
