Denied the chance to bid on a lucrative security contract to train Afghanistan’s new police force, DynCorp International managed to convince the Government Accountability Office to halt the company’s rival—Xe (formerly Blackwater)—from moving forward with its no-bid work. Xe was given the $1 billion job of training new Afghan police when oversight of the program was switched from the State Department to the U.S. Army.
DynCorp, which already was training some police under its deal with the State Department, complained when it was shut out of the bidding for the contract that went to Xe, which has done extensive work for the Department of Defense.
In addition to DynCorp’s complaints, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also raised concerns over Xe’s deal, citing the company’s history of allegedly abusive behavior by employees, “including misappropriation of government weapons and hiring of workers with criminal records that included assault and drug offenses,” wrote The Washington Post. Levin also accused Xe managers of lying to win lucrative jobs in Afghanistan.
It remains to be seen how the Defense Department intends to handle the awarding of the police-training contract in the wake of the GAO decision to block Xe from carrying out its assignment.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
GAO Blocks Contract to Firm Formerly Known as Blackwater to Train Afghan Police (by Joby Warrick, Washington Post)
B-402349, DynCorp International LLC, March 15, 2010 (Government Accountability Office)
Eric Cartman Accused of Stealing Weapons Meant for Afghan Police (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Afghan Police, Accused of Corruption, Say No to More U.S. Troops (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)