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Audits Rip Fed Oversight of Security Firms, Costs

Posted Oct 23, 07 7:20 AM CDT in Business,  US 

(Newser) – A State Department internal review of its own security practices in Iraq is sharply critical of the lack of oversight of private contractors Blackwater, DynCorp International and Triple Canopy. A second report due today says officials can't say what the government got for $1.2B paid to DynCorp since 2004, reports the New York Times.

Serious flaws exist with every aspect of the department’s practices, especially in Baghdad, where Blackwater has responsibility, the audit concludes. “They don’t have the right communications, they don’t have the right procedures in place, and you’ve got people operating on their own,” said one official.

Source New York Times

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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gestures during a news conference at the State Department in Washington in this Sept. 21, 2007 file photo. Rice on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007, ordered a major overhaul of...   (Associated Press)
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Plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight in the Iraqi city of Najaf in this April file photo. The State Department may phase out or limit the use of private security...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq • Afghanistan • Condoleezza Rice • Pentagon • State Department • Blackwater • contractors • audit • Triple Canopy • convoys • security practices


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