Petraeus “ The progress achieved has put us on the right azimuth to accomplish the objective...Afghan forces in the lead.....by the end of 2014.”

Slow and steady progress is being made in a world where people expect overnight results... What we see in Afghanistan is along the lines of what occured in Iraq.

The issue now will be to build upon what has been accomplished and make sure we provide an ability for the Afghans to defend their own country from the threats within and in their region.



Petraeus: Taliban momentum halted in Afghanistan, but harder fighting ahead

By William Branigin,
Tuesday, March 15, 11:26 AM
Washington Post

Gen. David H. Petraeus told lawmakers Tuesday that the U.S. and NATO forces he commands in Afghanistan have halted the Taliban’s momentum in much of the country, but he predicted difficult fighting ahead as the radical Islamist insurgents try to regain lost territory in a spring offensive.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Petraeus said that the “hard-fought achievements in 2010 and early 2011” by U.S. and NATO forces have permitted a recommendation to shift lead security responsibility to Afghan forces in several provinces this spring.

He said these achievements also are important as he prepares to “provide options and a recommendation to President Obama for commencement of the drawdown of the U.S. surge forces in July.” He referred to Obama’s Dec. 1, 2009, speech at the U.S. Military Academy in which he pledged to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July 2011 at a pace to be determined by conditions on the ground.

In addition, Petraeus said, “the progress achieved has put us on the right azimuth to accomplish the objective agreed upon at last November’s Lisbon Summit, that of Afghan forces in the lead throughout the country by the end of 2014.”

The general’s comments come amid declining U.S. support for the Afghanistan war effort, which began in the fall of 2001 following al-Qaeda’s Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, nearly two-thirds of Americans now say the war in Afghanistan is no longer worth fighting.

In an opening statement at Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that in view of the poll, the next few months could be “decisive” as winter turns to spring and NATO forces “face a renewed Taliban offensive to retake territory lost on the battlefield.”

McCain, the top Republican on the committee, said the United States “needs to be exceedingly cautious about the withdrawal of U.S. forces” starting in July. “We should not rush to failure, and we should cultivate strategic patience,” he said.

Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), the committee chairman, said the success of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan depends on the growth and capability of the Afghan security forces. He pointed to what he called a hopeful sign in “the increasing support of the Afghan people” for their security forces. He agreed that this spring’s fighting season could be an “acid test” as the Taliban tries to reverse recent losses.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) lamented the decline in U.S. popular support even though “we are succeeding in the Afghan war.” He attributed such sentiments more to continuing frustration over the domestic economy than to the actual situation in Afghanistan, and he said that “we have to remind the American people why we are in Afghanistan, why it’s worth it, and we are succeeding.”

In response to questions, Petraeus said he has not yet decided on the scope of the withdrawals that are to begin in July. But he expressed support for the concept of starting the drawdown then because “it undercuts the narrative of the Taliban that we will be there forever” and sends a message of urgency to the Afghan government.

He said he has requested resources to increase the Afghan security forces by 70,000, building on the growth “in number and capability” of those forces in the last couple of years. He said the growth is projected to bring the size of the Afghan forces to as many as 378,000, with a floor of at least 352,000.

Petraeus said the assessment by the NATO command in Afghanistan is that “the momentum achieved by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2005 has been arrested in much of the country and reversed in a number of important areas.” He added: “However, while the security progress achieved over the past year is significant, it is also fragile and reversible. Moreover, it is clear that much difficult work lies ahead with our Afghan partners to solidify and expand our gains in the face of the expected Taliban spring offensive.”

Petraeus said U.S. and NATO forces, working with Afghan partners, have “stepped up the tempo of precise, intelligence-driven operations to capture or kill insurgent leaders.” He said about 360 “targeted insurgent leaders” are killed or captured in a typical three-month period. He also cited successes in clearing the Taliban from long-held safe havens, including “such critical areas as the districts west of Kandahar city that were the birthplace of the Taliban movement, as well as important districts of Helmand Province.”

A program to reintegrate “reconcilable” insurgents has also shown promise, Petraeus said, noting that “we and our Afghan partners cannot just kill or capture our way out of the insurgency in Afghanistan.” He said that “some 700 former Taliban have now officially reintegrated with Afghan authorities, and some 2,000 more are in various stages of the reintegration process.”

The general expressed concern, however, that “levels of funding for our State Department and [U.S. Agency for International Development] partners will not sufficiently enable them to build on the hard-fought security achievements of our men and women in uniform.” He warned the committee, “Inadequate resourcing of our civilian partners could, in fact, jeopardize accomplishment of the overall mission.”

braniginw@washpost.com

“The closer you get to this fight, the better it looks.” - Progress is being made in Afghanistan

Many visits by the Brass go this way - They normally only get to see what others "want" them to see.....go here, see that, get on the plane and they're gone...They never really get to talk to the troops as they should or see the places they should see.

SECDEF Gates seems to have broken off from the normal and had time to speak with the troops even visiting some of the more remote places in Helmand....the results? He is optimistic about the progress made by our troops and the ANA.

Let us hope so as like Iraq, too many (especially those in the Media) like to take a crap on those who have worked hard to provide freedom to people who are desperate to live their lives in peace.


Members of Congress should listen to Gen. Petraeus
By Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) - 03/14/11 07:24 PM ET

During a visit this week with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates observed, “The closer you get to this fight, the better it looks.” Having just returned from a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan a few weeks ago, I couldn’t agree more. We are winning this war, and that is much more evident on the ground in Afghanistan than it is on the front pages of our newspapers.

Our delegation met with senior military commanders and diplomats from NATO and the United States during our trip. We talked to airmen at Bagram Air Base in Eastern Afghanistan, Marines in Helmand Province, and soldiers in Kandahar. We broke bread with the brave young men and women in uniform fighting in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement that harbored al Qaeda in the years prior to 9/11. And we spent time with Afghan leaders who are trying to build a better tomorrow for their people.

One such person was the governor of Marjah, who invited us to join him and other local leaders as they opened a new primary school for the village of Koru. Our delegation went from a heavily fortified U.S. combat outpost and walked without body armor (accompanied by a Marine patrol, to be sure) through a bustling market that a year ago had been one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Afghanistan.

When we arrived at the new schoolhouse, we were greeted by hundreds of children, including dozens of young girls, gathered within the walls of the school compound. They happily endured a cold rain for the ribbon-cutting ceremony that would open “their” new school. The children sported grins that stretched from ear to ear, and expressed their excitement at being given the opportunity to learn how to read.

Although it would be a mistake to simply extrapolate the experience of our walk through Koru and apply it to the whole country, it was clear to our delegation that our forces have made significant gains in the past year and have reversed the Taliban’s tactical momentum. Our forces — working alongside their Afghan partners — have regained the initiative against the Taliban.

We have cleared former enemy strongholds, swept up significant weapons caches that are vital for the insurgency, and are contesting more ground on the physical and human terrain fronts. We have made considerable progress in growing and professionalizing Afghanistan’s army and police so these forces are more capable and reliable partners to our own troops.

As significant as our troops’ achievements in Helmand and Kandahar are, however, they can easily be undone by poor decisions by leaders here in Washington, D.C. This is why this week’s testimony by our commander on the ground, Gen. David Petraeus, is so important. Although the influx of additional troops and a better-resourced counterinsurgency strategy have led to operational gains, after nearly 10 years of war, public support for the effort in Afghanistan is waning.

Gen. Petraeus — who will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday and before my committee the following day — must lay out how this progress can be consolidated into a lasting strategic victory for the United States and its Afghan allies.

The House Armed Services Committee will seek to understand what conditions in Afghanistan would be sufficient to permit the redeployment of some U.S. forces beginning in July 2011. We will ask tough questions regarding the capabilities — and too often, shortcomings — of our Afghan partners. And, we will seek to determine what resources are required to reinforce the positive trends of 2010 so that we can allow the Afghan government to assume the lead in governance and security.

Gen. Petraeus is no stranger to high-stakes hearings held under the bright lights of Capitol Hill. In September 2007, he reported on the security gains that were achieved in Iraq well before the effects of that “surge” were readily visible. The war has changed, but the stakes are just as high.

As we were reminded in a recent Washington Post article about Marine Lt. Gen. John Kelly and the tragic loss of his son Robert to an IED attack last November, our nation has asked families to shoulder a tremendous burden. Just as we owe it to our nation’s warriors and their families to remain committed to the fight by properly resourcing the fight, we also owe it to them to get the war’s strategy right. For nothing would do more to honor their sacrifices than to achieve a strategic victory that makes all Americans more secure.

McKeon serves as the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

BBC - Canadian photographer Louie Palu....His photographs of the conflict in Afghanistan

Many go to war carrying a weapon, some go there carrying a camera...And we all see what the cameraman sees....

Five years in Afghanistan
Phil Coomes - BBC

Canadian photographer Louie Palu has been photographing the conflict in Afghanistan for the past five years. During that time his work from the frontline has been widely published and has won him numerous awards, including Canadian photojournalist of the year. Now, however, his focus is shifting to editing the work into a comprehensive record of the country's latest conflict, and with that comes a chance to see his pictures of a quieter Afghanistan.

Louie made his first trip to Kandahar in 2006 while on assignment for The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper in Canada, and since then has undertaken five additional trips working independently between 2007 and 2010, in total spending approximately 18 months in the field.

The final year of his time in Afghanistan was funded by the Alexia Foundation who awarded Louie their annual photography grant to continue his work in Kandahar.

Here Louie talks about the project and offers his perspective on working in a conflict zone.

Louie Palu:

"When I first went to Kandahar in 2006 I was on an assignment covering Canadian troops on a combat mission. No matter how much I read about or researched it, nothing can ever replace witnessing and gathering information first hand.

"This was the first war I covered and by the end of my first trip I was deeply affected by a suicide bombing and really had more questions than answers about what I had seen.

"On my arrival back to my home in Canada I immediately knew that I wanted to cover Kandahar as a long-term project and not just on another news cycle. I planned to spend extended amounts of time in the field and it was clear to me that I had to decide what I was going to photograph, not an assignment desk back in the west. Nor did I want to be taking pictures for a writer who only spent two weeks in the field.

"I returned in 2007 on my own to find that few media outlets other than a handful of Canadian journalists were covering Kandahar. The amount of fighting there in 2007 was high and it intensified throughout 2008.

"I think what was interesting in those early years was the media coverage by each nation. The British media primarily covered UK troops in Helmand province, the US media US troops in the north east, mainly in the Korengal valley, and Kandahar was covered by Canadians. So the effect of this is that for those back home they tended to see the war through one region, for that reason I made a trip out to each of those other areas to understand them before continuing with my Kandahar project.

"The majority of media coverage was from short tours and many journalists made limited trips into the field away from the main base at Kandahar Airfield. As a photographer you have no choice but to report up close and personal on the front lines. I can't blame my colleagues for not going out, it is brutally dangerous in the area's I worked in.

"But I wanted to see what the fruit stands and markets were like, the daily rituals, in addition to the fighting and NATO troops, which are only a part of the story.

"Over time I got to know Kandahar so well and was able to work without any other media around or the military. I worked with an Afghan colleague and mastered a local look and I had grown my beard very long, which opened many doors.

"But I have of course worked extensively as an embed with US, UK and Canadian troops. Many of the villages I wanted to visit and photograph are in the most violent areas of the country and could only be seen if I was with the military. This did not impede me in anyway.

"As a photographer there usually can be no sneaking around, as once the camera is out everyone knows that you don't belong. However this year when I started working in Kandahar City I began employing a super wide "toy" panoramic camera, which allowed me to photograph many scenes from the hip with my camera wrapped in a scarf or under my arm.

"Cameras are uncommon in the villages as well. I needed to capture images in a manner that could be fast. Using the camera freely was too dangerous in many of the areas I wanted to visit and I had to also consider my fixers safety as well as my own if we were identified in public.

"Many times when I worked away from the military I saw incredible scenes that could be great pictures, but I had to hold back due to safety. Any time I did something non-Afghan or was seen with my camera I would draw attention to myself and my Afghan colleague. Most Afghans in the small villages were interested in the function of what a camera could do as a machine and many did not know what a journalist, let alone a photographer was, nor did they care.

"I'm now faced with a year or two of editing. My archive of images, video, writing and diaries is extensive and I want to get it all out there for people to see and learn from.

"My previous project was on the mining communities in northern Canada and I spent 15 years on that but war is far too exhausting to remain out there for that long. I have now spent four or five years on and off, the odds were going to catch up with me and I think I used up all nine of my lives twice, I don't want to push it."

ALEXANDER THE GREAT'S FORTRESS IN QALAT...every military force has used it, including the British, the Russians, the Taliban, Americans & the ANA

Time is the strangest of things that we deal with......A year ago this week, I was on a trip from Kandahar Airfield to FOB Apache near Qalat - That time & place seems an age ago now that I'm back in Boston....

I wrote a piece about it here:

http://usnavyjeep.blogspot.com/2010/10/middleboro-jones-visits-to-fob-apache.html

I remember specifically as I called my wife on Valentine's Day as I had been there for about 5 days and didn't want her to think I forgot her...It was cold & windy out there in Eastern Afghanistan....One of the key features of this barren area is the edge of the Hindu Kush Mountains and the other feature is " The Castle" or as all others speak about it, "Alexander the Great's Fortress ". The local say it has been there for over 2000 years and was built by Alexander while on his push into this region back in the day....Since then, nearly every military force has used it, including the British, the Russians, the Taliban, and now American and Afghan National Army soldiers.

Take a look at the pictures as I was over 3/4 of a mile away from it and even that far away, it was supremely impressive....The picture at the top of this post is one of the best ones I took during my 10 months in Afghanistan. Hands down.

Alexander’s castle still has military uses in Afghanistan
by Tech. Sgt. Oshawn Jefferson
U.S. AFCENT Combat Camera Team

QALAT CITY, Afghanistan -- In any other country in the world it would be a tourist site.

A tour guide would lead people through the place local Afghans call Ball Haizer, or simply "The Castle" and tell of its rich history. Instead U.S. Soldiers assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul are looking to partner with Afghan National Army Soldiers to use the site to protect U.S. and Afghan interests in the area.

"I'm not the first Soldier to walk up the hill to use 'The Castle' for military purposes and I probably won't be the last," said Army Staff Sgt. Clarence Washington, PRT Zabul third squad security forces lead deployed from the Pennsylvania National Guard's 110th Infantry Battalion in Connellsville, Pa. "Hopefully we can use its vantage point to secure our operations in this Province."

According to local officials here, the fortress was built more than 2,000 years ago by legendary conqueror and Greek military leader, Alexander the Great during his push to India. Since then, nearly every military force has used it, including the British, the Russians, the Taliban, and now American and Afghan National Army soldiers.

"This place gets used for military purposes a lot," said "Craft," PRT Zabul's interpreter. "Maybe one day it can be a place that people just come to and visit."

While tourist visits are still in the future, Soldiers here now hope to use the stone-structure, towering over the more than 10,000 inhabitants of Qalat City, to help the PRT fulfill its three goals - improving security, extending the authority and credibility of the Afghan government, and finally to facilitate reconstruction.

"Being here can help us to better secure Highway 1, (the main road connecting Kabul to Kandahar) and keep my Soldiers and Airmen safe while we conduct our mission here," said Army Sergeant Washington. "Getting everybody home safe and protecting the local populace, while conducting this mission is a top priority for me."

Atop "The Castle" sits a glass teahouse. From the area surrounding the teahouse, one side offers an entire overview of Qalat City, while the other gives an almost endless view of the desert terrain that surrounds the city.

"The view is pretty awesome, but it also gives us a great vantage point to discourage and stop Taliban and enemy forces from trying to cause harm to our fellow servicemembers and local Afghans," said Private First Class Scott Gaydos, PRT Zabul combat engineer. "Still it will be pretty cool when or if we do get a chance to work out here."

Qalat is a Persian word meaning "faithful place". For more than 2,000 years Soldiers have used this faithful place to conduct military operations throughout Zabul Province. Airmen and Soldiers at Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul and Afghan government officials here are working, so that one day this can be a place tourist from all over the world can come visit. For now it still offers a military purpose.

This is why we fight these bastards - Taliban terrorists use children to detonate bombs

This is all the info you need to know as to why we will fight these bastards....no amount of political diatribe can wash away the evidence that these murderous thugs will continue to do things like this until we take them out, and free the people of Afghanistan from their terror.....no plainer way to say it.

I had previously posted about them publicly hanging a 7 year old child, accusing him of being a spy - see link to post below

http://usnavyjeep.blogspot.com/2010/10/taliban-cowards-hang-7-year-old-afghan.html

I, for one, am glad to say that I was there in Afghanistan and supported the Troops that capture and kill these heinous bastards....Until we can turn the tide against them, it will be a fight, but one in which we must not fail. As I have stated before, and it is worth repeating, this fight will be:

" All hard, all the time."


Afghanistan: Taliban terrorists use children to detonate bombs
http://www.energypublisher.com/article.asp?id=44951
12/13/10

Taliban terrorists used a two-year-old girl as the trigger for an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, killing the child and five Afghan police officers. Afghan National Police officers near Kandahar stopped their vehicle to comfort the child who they saw sobbing by the side of the road. The Islamist insurgents had ordered the toddler not to move, in order to lure the hapless officers who were being trained by British troops at the Helmand police training center in Lashkar Gah.

The incident happened in mid-2010, according to Afghan police in training. One of the officers, and eyewitness, said “Bad people did this. They are enemies of humanity, enemies of Islam and enemies of the Koran.” This fresh horror came to light when civilian police of Britain’s Ministry of Defense observed with shock that not one of their Afghan trainees went to calm a child during a practical training session on dealing with missing children. Recruits to the Afghan police forces related to their British mentors the horror they had observed earlier in the year. ran a practical training session on what to do if Afghan police found a missing child. The Brits were shocked not one officer went to calm a child in the session - until recruits told them of the sick trick of using tiny tots as triggers. One British officer said that he was unprepared for such devious tactics, saying "I've come to teach them community policing but it's life and death every day.”

Explosive booby traps such as these (IEDs) have been used to deadly effect following the invasion of Iraq by US and Allied forces, killing numerous troops as well as civilians. In Afghanistan, an IED consisting of a 250 lb bomb was found by Afghan police forces on November 1. The device was rigged with bullets and metal fragments for maximum effect. It was hidden in a drainage pipe beneath a road in apparent Taliban revenge for a firefight they encountered with British troops just a day earlier. Defused by British demolition teams, the device was detonated under controlled circumstances, leaving a crater 5 feet deep and 20 feet wide. Witnesses said that it could have easily flipped a military vehicle and killed its occupants had it been detonated as planned by the Taliban. Afghan police that found the bomb had noticed a copper detonation wire that extended more than 400 yards to a nearby treeline.

British troops in February 2010 noted that children as young as 12 were being used by the Islamist marauders to plant IEDs with the intention of killing and maiming troops. British Army commanders say insurgents are forcing children to lay IEDs because they know they will not be shot by British snipers. Moreover, say British sources, the children’s parents and families are likely to have been threatened by the Taliban to allow their children to carry out terrorist tasks.

Editor Martin Barillas is a former US diplomat, who also worked as a democracy advocate and election observer in Latin America. He is also a freelance translator.

Private Local security contractors in Afghanistan poses "grave risks" to U.S. and allied troops

I have spent time in close proximity to the ANA (Afghan National Army). I have traveled through their facilities and watched warily as they watched us. It always was an uneasy alliance as most of them were doing their best to fight for Afghanistan, but a certain number seemed (seemed) to have other ideas. I have seen the frustration that professional soldiers had when they tried to deal with the rank n' file of the ANA.

Recently, there was a brilliant show on our local PBS station, WGBH Boston.

The program was " Camp Victory, Afghanistan ".

http://www.campvictoryafghanistanthemovie.com/

From the website - " Camp Victory, Afghanistan is a verité documentary that tells the story of several U.S. National Guardsmen stationed in Herat, Afghanistan and the Afghan officers assigned as their mentees. These Americans along with a band of Afghans have been given the enormous task of building the 207th Corps of the nascent Afghan National Army into an institution capable of providing security, stability, peace and justice to a tattered, volatile nation"

"Using nearly 300 hours of verité footage shot between 2005 and 2008, Camp Victory, Afghanistan, directed by Carol Dysinger, is the first film to examine the reality of building a functioning Afghan military—the initial critical step toward bringing stability and peace to Afghanistan"

I have been to the HERAT region where this was filmed, and it is a difficult place as it is isolated and desolate. The movie highlights one of Afghanistan's truly dedicated military leaders, General Fazil Ahmad Sayar. After watching this show, I gained respect for the challenge that he embraced as his mission. The program also delves into the complex relationship between the Afghan Military and the US Military Advisors that assist in the creation of a military force that must defend Afghanistan.

As a backdrop to all this, I am saddened to read the news of a Senate Investigation that outlines how many of the contract companies that provide private security services on US Military bases and to protect supply convoys and bases in Afghanistan is rife with criminals, drug users and insurgents. Lack of oversight or outright negligence, either answer for this is simply unacceptable.

Back to my time where we were in close proximity to ANA forces & private security groups, the news of this was something I always suspected but never had hard evidence. Funny how I have learned to follow Occam's Razor,

" When you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better."

In this case, it is that we have set up a system with a complete lack of oversight, and our enemies have found out a way to exploit this weakness. the simple answer is that those in control (isolated within the Beltway) didn't think about how the system they set up could effect our people on the ground in harm's way....another surprise. Not.

My greatest fear is that we are waiting to see a " Tet " style offensive occur, where all those who are in allegiance of our enemies have orders to simultaneously attack from within, and that this will cause mass casualties on our bases.

Pray that I am wrong....something along those lines would be too horrible to imagine.

----------------------------

U.S. Contractors Employed Taliban
Senate Investigation Says Military Depends on Private Security Forces Rife With Criminals, Drug Users and Insurgents.

By NATHAN HODGE - WSJ

WASHINGTON—A yearlong investigation by a Senate panel has found evidence that the mostly Afghan force of private security guards the U.S. military depends on to protect supply convoys and bases in Afghanistan is rife with criminals, drug users and insurgents.

The Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry, based on interviews with dozens of military commanders and contractors and a review of over 125 Pentagon security contracts, found evidence of "untrained guards, insufficient and unserviceable weapons, unmanned posts" and other failings that put U.S. troops at risk.

More alarming, the report alleges that some local warlords who have emerged as key labor brokers for private security firms are also Taliban agents.

Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), the chairman of the committee, said failures to adequately vet private security contractors in Afghanistan poses "grave risks" to U.S. and allied troops. The overall lack of proper contractor supervision, he added, poses a fundamental threat to the U.S. mission.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered that all security firms in Afghanistan be dissolved by the end of the year, though that process has only just begun. Coalition officials have supported the effort because of concerns about the private forces, but say the alternative—the Afghan police—isn't yet competent enough to take over the job.

The majority of the private security contractors are Afghan; companies employing them are both international and locally based. The Senate inquiry focuses on the role of Department of Defense contractors, but the State Department also employs private guards.

According to U.S. Central Command figures cited in the report, Afghanistan has more than 26,000 private security personnel, 90% of whom are working under U.S. government contracts or subcontracts.

Doug Brooks, the president of International Peace Operations Associations, a group that represents security firms, said the report highlights the difficulty in complying with contract requirements to provide local hires. "There's not a huge amount of choice in the local hires they can use," he said. "Where are they going to get guys who have never smoked hashish, who have never worked for the Taliban or who have never considered joining the Taliban?"

The investigation, quoting a Naval Criminal Investigative Service report, said "contractors have been known to shoot at Marines" and that Afghan security personnel were often "high on drugs" while at their posts.

In one case, Senate investigators found, a Marine was killed earlier this year by U.S.-funded security contractors who opened fire on a Marine foot patrol in Farah province.

In another example, the son of a man who provided staff for a guard force at a coalition facility was "suspected of being an agent of a hostile foreign government," likely shorthand for Iran.

The inquiry singles out two security firms—ArmorGroup, a subsidiary of U.K.-based G4S PLC, and EOD Technology Inc., or EODT, of Lenoir City, Tenn.—for relying on dubious local power brokers, including individuals described in U.S. military reports as Taliban affiliates and criminals.

An ArmorGroup spokesman said the company "engaged workers from two local villages as stated by the Senate Report—but did so only upon the recommendation and encouragement of U.S. Special Forces."

The company's personnel "remained in close contact with U.S. Special Forces personnel to ensure that the company was constantly acting in harmony with, and in support of, U.S. military interests and desires," the spokesman said.

EODT said in a statement it "has never been advised by the U.S. military" of problems with its hiring practices. The company said it has cooperated with the investigation and "stands ready to engage the U.S. military or other stakeholders about these issues in order to improve our internal processes and contract performance."

A contractor interviewed by investigators described the local guard force recruiters as "straightforward 1920s Chicago."