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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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Kabul Embassy Whistleblower Sues Security Firm

Manager says he was forced out after trying to stop embassy guards visiting brothels

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(Newser) – A former manager who says he tried to lift the lid on bad behavior by guards at the US Embassy in Kabul is suing security contractor ArmorGroup, CNN reports. James Gordon says he was forced out of his job after asking the company and the State Department to investigate guards' illegal visits to brothels known to house trafficked women. His efforts to bring in a no-brothel policy were met with "outright hostility," Gordon says.

One employee was "forcibly removed from a brothel in Kabul during working hours," but was kept in his job by managers who frequented the same establishment, Gordon says in the lawsuit. ArmorGroup supplied the embassy with too few guards and gave them second-rate equipment, Gordon claims. The company's goal, he says, "was to maximize their profits, provide a fig leaf of security at the embassy, and pray to God that nobody got killed."

ArmorGroup guards at the US Embassy in Kabul
ArmorGroup guards at the US Embassy in Kabul   (Project on Government Oversight)
ArmorGroup guards at the US Embassy in Kabul.
ArmorGroup guards at the US Embassy in Kabul.   (Project on Government Oversight)
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I set out two years ago to see to it that the US Embassy in Kabul was protected was protected. I am hoping that the public airing of this lawsuit will bring us closer to that goal. - James Gordon, former director of operations at ArmorGroup

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Shannonals
Sep 12, 09 12:13 AM CDT
Again, why was an American Embassy using a private sector security contractor like ArmorGroup, when the bulk of all security matters are handled in other Embassies by Marines? Reply
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