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Bacchus Interuptus: ArmorGroup Loses State Dept. Contract After Allegations Of Lewd Behavior
Jillian Rayfield | December 8, 2009, 5:19PM
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The State Department will no longer employ private security contractor ArmorGroup North America in Afghanistan, after some lewd photographs of the group's alcohol-fueled antics came to light in September.
According to State Department spokesman Mark Toner, the five-year, $189 million contract with ArmorGroup, which had been charged with protecting the U.S. embassy in Kabul, will not be renewed after it expires next summer.
The State Department's decision will come as no surprise to those who remember the initial allegations, which, in the form of a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, depict a treasure trove of Bacchic behavior, including brawls, prostitutes, and "deviant hazing and humiliation." The accompanying pictures, obtained by Mother Jones, complete the portrait of a contractor-gone-wild.
Toner also cites ArmorGroup's continued failure to meet the terms of the contract as a factor in the decision. I'll bet.
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PaulC37943
December 8, 2009 6:33 PM
Good news! Now what about Blackwater/Xe?
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fitley
December 8, 2009 7:13 PM
Xe will probably get this contract.That means less parties but more dead bodies. It's a trade off.
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roxanne
December 8, 2009 8:48 PM
That photo of those guys drinking from each others asses is disgusting and repulsive. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEU!
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Max Thrax
December 8, 2009 9:06 PM
There's a case to be made that the entire conservative movement is nothing more than conservative white men's attempt to fight off and obscure their own latent homosexuality.
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latinjum
December 8, 2009 9:43 PM
But, I think Rachel Maddow reported a week or so ago that the same contractor, ArmorGroup, just got a contract to provide security at the Baghbad Airport. So, maybe the State Department still needs to have their feet held to the fire about employing this contractor for anything at all.
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