Diplomats who were left behind face security problems in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

Michael Thibault, left, and Grant Green of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan at a hearing examining the State Department's role in the transition of power to Iraq.


Diplomats who were left behind face security problems in Iraq
Joe Davidson
Friday, September 24, 2010

Now that most (:wtf: ) U.S. military forces have left Iraq, the American diplomats left behind face serious security problems the State Department is ill-prepared to tackle.

That's the grave message the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan presented to Congress on Thursday.

Much of the security once provided by the military will have to be done by private contractors, yet the department does not have the money to hire the number needed nor the capability to manage them.

"Even if State could obtain the funds for more than doubling its private-security force, it is not clear that it has the trained personnel to manage and oversee contract performance of a kind that has already shown the potential for creating tragic incidents and frayed relations with host countries," Michael Thibault, commission co-chairman, said in a statement to the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee.

A July 12 report by the commission said the State Department has about 2,700 private-security contractors in Iraq but will need up to 7,000. It goes on to cite a troubling situation beset by "weaknesses in contract management and oversight, not to mention funding and hiring challenges."



unhappycamper comment: Hate to tell you guys at the Washington Post this, but we still have 50,000 boots on the ground in Iraq.

[Submariner]

1. Well, if President Obama was not so short-sighted

he might have figured out that ending the fraudulent Cheney/Bush take over of Iraq could lead to security risks for Americans left behind to make a buck...government, contractor, or otherwise.

[Toots]

2. 50,000 American troops can not protect a handfull of diplomats?

We need to get the Mercernaries back right away, since our military is incompetent..