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Showing posts with label Pentagon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pentagon. Show all posts

Friday, February 10, 2012

Pentagon to ease restrictions on women in some combat roles - Washington Post

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Pentagon to ease restrictions on women in some combat rolesView Photo Gallery — Military officials say a ban on women serving in front-line infantry and armor units as well as special operations forces such as the Navy SEALs will be maintained. View photos of elite women soldiers in Afghanistan.

Smaller TextLarger TextText SizePrintE-mailReprints By Craig Whitlock,

The Pentagon will maintain bans on women serving in most ground combat units, defense officials said Thursday, despite pressure from lawmakers and female veterans who called the restrictions outdated after a decade of war.

After taking more than a year to review its policies on orders from Congress, the Defense Department announced that it would open about 14,000 combat-related positions to female troops, including tank mechanics and intelligence officers on the front lines.

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Saturday, October 16, 2010

Senate report blasts Pentagon for handling of security contractors - CNN International

Senate report: Failure to keep track of private security contractors puts troops at riskSen. Carl Levin: "We must shut off the spigot of U.S. dollars" to Afghan warlordsCommittee staff: 125 security contracts cost the U.S. more than $100 millionReport cites nonexistent training, violent incidents, warlord affiliations

Washington (CNN) -- A Senate report released Thursday rips into the Pentagon for failing to keep track of tens of thousands of private security contractors in Afghanistan, a failure that places both the mission and U.S. troops at grave risk.

"The report describes a number of private security contractors funneling U.S. taxpayer dollars to Afghan warlords and strongmen who are linked to murder, kidnapping, bribery, pro-Talilban and anti-coalition activities," Armed Services Committee Carl Levin said at a briefing.

"We must shut off the spigot of U.S. dollars flowing into the pockets of power brokers and warlords who act contrary to our interests and who contribute to the corruption that weakens the support of the Afghan people for their government and for our effort," said Levin, D-Michigan.

The committee spent the past year investigating more than 125 Defense Department security contracts that cost the U.S. well in excess of $100 million, according to committee staff. Levin travelled to Afghanistan in July to meet with U.S. military leaders about risks in employing some 26,000 armed contractors.

Levin said some contractors are necessary to provide security, for instance guarding the perimeter of U.S. installations. But too many of them are poorly vetted prior to hiring, and aren't trained or provided with weapons and other equipment.

The report details one incident in February in which Afghanistan contractor guards fired on U.S. Marines who were shouting to identify themselves and using signal flares. The guards shot and killed a Marine. The Marines later detained the guards and found they were high on opium and had been given no training in how to fire their rifles.

Another contractor, according to the report and U.S. military e-mails obtained by the committee, "used rocks to simulate personnel" guarding observation posts.

Another section of the report focuses on guards hired by ArmorGroup as an example of how U.S. and United Nations contracts benefit Afghan warlords.

"The succession of warlords and the guards affiliated with them were implicated in murder, revenge attacks, bribery and anti-coalition activities," the report said. "One of those warlords, known as Mr. White-Two, was holding a Taliban meeting at his home when it was raided by U.S. and Afghan forces." ArmorGroup managers, according to the Senate report, gave the Afghanistan warlords nicknames based on the 1992 crime movie "Reservoir Dogs."

"Those warlords were variously implicated in murder and bribery," Levin said at his briefing. "As a matter of fact, Mr. Pink killed Mr. White-One. They were found to possess landmines, large amounts of ammunition and they were determined by the U.S. military to be in league with the Taliban."

A spokesperson for ArmorGroup's parent company, G4S in London, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Senate report blasted the Defense Department for lack of oversight, saying too much attention was devoted to giving out contracts and too little to keeping them accountable.

"Their workload required them to devote all their efforts to awarding contracts, and as a result they could not provide contract oversight," the Senate report said.

The Senate committee has briefed the Pentagon on their findings. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote Levin Tuesday saying the department had set up task forces to review the issue, had tripled the number of auditors in the warzone and revamped their hiring, training and deployment.

Gates said the Senate report has helped the Defense Department understand the problems.

"Through the new programs we have implemented, I believe, DoD has taken significant steps to benefit our forces on the ground while not providing aid to our enemies.," Gates said in his letter.

Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus also has warned of over-reliance on contractors, telling military leaders to consider who benefits and the impact on their operations.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai cracked down on private contracts at the end of last month.

"In order to protect Afghan life and property, avoid corruption, security irregularities and the misuse of military weapons, ammunition and uniforms by the private security companies which have caused tragic incidents, and after the required assessment, I approve shutting down all private security companies within four months, including both domestic and foreign," the Afghanistan government's decree said.

The heavy dependence on contractors creates multiple problems for the United States. Efforts to build up the Afghan police and security forces are undercut when people can make more money working for private companies. Warlords can siphon off funds and not provide promised manpower.

Levin admitted that in some circumstances there are only risky, difficult choices.

"The decision as to whether or not to utilize a strongman or a warlord, or whatever you want to call them, has to be made at the highest level, it cannot be made casually by someone lower down in the chain of command that takes the easy way out, who says we will use this guy because he can provide protection," Levin said.

Levin said that despite efforts by the Pentagon and Congress, problems remain.

"There are contracts that are being implemented today with contractors who have shown to be sloppy, reckless or negligent in terms of implementing those contracts," Levin said. "So the risks exist today."


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Friday, October 15, 2010

Pentagon: Elements in Pakistani Intelligence Agency Support Terror - FOXNews

The Pentagon acknowledged Thursday that some parts of Pakistan's intelligence agency are cooperating with terrorist groups as a new report suggests Inter-Service Intelligence agents are working to undermine U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said the Pakistan intelligence service as an organization does not support terrorism, but some elements within the ISI are providing assistance to terrorists. 

U.S. officials have raised concerns about whether some members of the ISI "might be interacting with terrorist organizations in ways that aren't consistent with what the government and military are doing," Lapan said.

Lapan was responding after a report in The Wall Street Journal that suggested the ISI is pushing the Taliban to keep fighting in Afghanistan, undermining efforts by the Pentagon to end the war. 

The Journal quotes an Afghan commander in Kunar province who said the ISI is still urging and paying Taliban to fight NATO soldiers. 

Pakistan's top military leadership is working to correct the problem, Lapan said, but "like any large organization, change is difficult and comes slowly."

"The ISI has done a great deal in fighting terrorism. Some have said they probably have killed more terrorists than any other organization. But we also have some concerns with the strategic focus of the ISI," Lapan said.

Lapan spoke as U.S.-Pakistani relations remain strained over the effort to end the Taliban's use of Pakistan as a safe haven to launch attacks into Afghanistan. 

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that President Obama has not spoken to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari but a Pakistani delegation is due in Washington later this month as part of a continuing strategic dialogue. 

Other strains have added to the burden on U.S.-Pakistani ties recently. On Wednesday, the U.S. apologized for a Sept. 30 attack that killed two Pakistani border guards. Expressing condolences, the U.S. said the helicopters mistook them for insurgents being pursued across the border from Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Pakistani officials said they are still weighing when to open the Torkham border crossing along Kyber Pass, which was closed as a result of the U.S. attack. Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said authorities were still evaluating the situation and would make a decision "in due course."

Torkham is a major supply route for NATO trucks shipping supplies to troops in Afghanistan Military officials insist closing the crossing hasn't hampered supply chains, but truck convoys are something of sitting ducks as hundreds of vehicles are backed up at the border. Pakistani militants torched 70 NATO trucks Wednesday in Pakistan -- the sixth set of attacks on NATO convoys in the past week.

The CIA continues to operate its own drone attacks on suspected terrorists, including one believed to have struck Thursday that targeted a vehicle in the North Waziristan tribal region where Taliban militants are based. The strike would be the sixth suspected missile attack this month, following what is believed to be 21 similar attacks in the region in September. 

As the troubled relationship evolves, one senior Pakistani official told The Wall Street Journal that Islamabad is fighting militants, not aiding them.

"Whenever anything goes wrong in Afghanistan, ISI is to be blamed," the official is quoted saying. "Honestly, they see ISI agents behind every bush in Afghanistan."

Lapan said the U.S. continues to communicate with Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the head of the Pakistani Army and former chief of the ISI, and is "comfortable that change will be coming in how the ISI operates."

Speaking after a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., said that "the ISI's continued involvement with various entities remains an issue of concern between us." 

He added that he is also concerned about Pakistani army attempts to undermine the government, but he doesn't think the army "will move in that type of way." 


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