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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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23

US Embassy Guards in Kabul Living Lurid Lifestyle

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(AP) – Guards hired by the State Department to protect diplomats and staff at the US embassy in Afghanistan live and work in a Lord of the Flies environment in which they are subjected to hazing and humiliation by supervisors, a government oversight group says. In a 10-page letter to Hillary Clinton, the independent Project on Government Oversight contended the situation has led to a breakdown in morale and leadership that compromises security.

Sen. Claire McCaskill called on the State Department to open an investigation into the management of the contract with ArmorGroup North America. One email from a guard describes lurid conditions at Camp Sullivan, the guards' quarters. It details scenes of abuse including guards and supervisors urinating on people and "threats and intimidation from those leaders participating in this activity." Photographs show guards and supervisors in various stages of nudity at parties.

An Afghan soldier stands in the foreground while International Security Assistance Force soldiers stand guard on the road to the U.S. Embassy May 21, 2003 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
An Afghan soldier stands in the foreground while International Security Assistance Force soldiers stand guard on the road to the U.S. Embassy May 21, 2003 in Kabul, Afghanistan.   (Getty Images)
An Afghan police man stands guard near the site of a rocket attack near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009.
An Afghan police man stands guard near the site of a rocket attack near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009.   (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
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23 comments
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PosterNutbag
Sep 1, 09 5:24 PM CDT
Imagine how this looks to muslims around the world watching on Al Jazeera. Reply
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+5
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godawgs
Sep 1, 09 6:25 PM CDT
looks like we do the same thing to our own people that we do to them....
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+2
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Jes
Sep 1, 09 7:38 PM CDT
So is this just the American way? Really?
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0
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godawgs
Sep 1, 09 11:00 PM CDT
@jes depends you ever been in the service or played organized sports? there is still hazing going today even though it is not supposed to. I spent over an hour taped inside a laundry bag in a trash can on a mid-watch.
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Fondue
Sep 2, 09 8:17 AM CDT
And they worry about "the gays".
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+2
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