FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2010 From alleged Russian spy, with love


KLMNO


BY KAREN DEYOUNG AND KARIN BRULLIARD


The head of Pakistan’smilitary


has ordered an investigation into a video, circulating on the Inter- net, that depicts the country’s sol- diers executing blindfolded men in civilian dress, according to se- niorPakistani officials. In an order to be publicly re-


leased Friday,Gen.AshfaqKayani appointed a two-star general to determine the identity of the uni- formedpersonnel and“the veraci- ty of the video footage,” and he pledged to take the “strictest pos- sible disciplinary action” if war- ranted, officials said. The video,which appeared sev-


DMITRY LOVETSKY/ASSOCIATED PRESS


Anna Chapman, left, aRussian national and alleged spy who was deported from theUnited States this summer, andAssociated Press reporterNataliyaVasilyeva attend the farewell ceremony for aU.S. astronaut and twoRussian cosmonauts at theRussian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three men are set to blast off for the international space station Friday morning.


Senate report critical of U.S. contracting in Afghanistan


contractors from A1


lieved by U.S. military intelli- gence to be Iranian agents. According to the U.S. Central Command, the report said, there were more than 112,000 Defense Department contractor person- nel in Afghanistan as of April 30. As of May, more than 26,000 armed private security personnel — nearly all of them Afghans — worked for the Pentagon and oth- erU.S. agencies. Subcontracted Afghans pro-


vide perimeter security for U.S. forward operating bases, civilian installations and development projects, as well as for the truck convoys that carry most of the food, fuel, weapons and other supplies for theU.S.-led coalition. In congressional testimony in


December, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of StateHillary Rodham Clinton ac- knowledged concern that the United States was indirectly funding warlords and the Tali- ban. InJune, aHousesubcommit- tee investigation found that Af- ghan private security contractors rana “protection racket” inwhich militias, some tied to the Taliban, received money to protect supply convoys. Early this year, Afghan Presi-


dent Hamid Karzai pledged to disband private security con- tracting firms. This week, Af- ghanistan’s Interior Ministry an- nounced that it had begun dis- arming those companies that are unlicensed. In a letter Tuesday to Levin,


Gates said the report had helped the Defense Department “under- stand the nature of the problems associated with contracting in Afghanistan.” He said oversight has already been expanded in an effort to “benefit our forcesonthe ground while not providing aid to our enemies.” The military has been reluc-


tant to remove U.S. troops from combat and other duties to pro- tect the supplyconvoys.Butin the wake of the earlier subcommittee report, it has looked for alterna- tives, including using Afghan na- tional security forces to guard the trucks. The next step of Karzai’s phase-out of the private security firms, U.S. military officials said, will target those providing con- voy escorts. Replacement of the “static” security discussed in the Senate committee’s report will come at a later date, officials said. Karzai has said he plans to incorporate the private guards into the armed forces. But that is seen as a monumental task, given the power of the warlords to whom many of the guards owe their loyalty, and the govern- ment’s inability to match their pay scale. The report and its conclusions


were adopted without objection in a voice vote by the Armed Services Committee last week, and the 86-page document was declassified with fewredactions. An addendum signed by Sen.


John McCain (R-Ariz.), the rank- ing minority member, and other Republicans said that while the report demonstrates “the risks of using private security contrac- tors,” it would be wrong to con- clude that all were disloyal and that their use “always decreased the security of U.S. and Coalition


forces, or . . . inevitably undercut the Afghan government.” The Republicans noted that


there were few other “feasible options” available in Afghanistan until recently, given the largeU.S. deployment in Iraq and the limit- ed number of U.S. and coalition troops available for such tasks. They also faulted the report for failure “to acknowledge the posi- tive impact of providing employ- ment” to Afghans. One lengthy narrative in the


report illustrated the committee’s findings in detail. InMarch 2007, it said, the military contracted with California-based Environ- mental Chemical Corp. to con- struct a base for the Afghan Air Corps on the site of a former Soviet air base at Shindand, in Herat province. The company subcontracted with the North American subsidiary of Armor- Group, a British company, to pro- vide site security at the base. ArmorGroup, according to the


report, subcontracted the task to two men identified in company documents as local “warlords,” whom it nicknamed “Mr. White” and “Mr. Pink” after characters in the 1992 Quentin Tarantino mov- ie “Reservoir Dogs,” about hap- less criminals who turn on each other afterajewelry heist.Atleast one of the two was recommended to ArmorGroup by military per- sonnel at aU.S. forwardoperating base adjacent to the air base, the report said. In July 2007, Mr. White was ambushed and shot just outside the air base, leading guards loyal to him to leave their posts and seek revenge against Pink forces they believed responsible. White survived but was killed by Pink in a firefight in the local bazaar that December. Pink was reportedly “holed up with the Taliban” after the shooting, the report said. Despite his reported Taliban


links, ArmorGroup continued to employ Pink, identified in U.S. military documentsas a “mid-lev- el Taliban manager,” until the contractor received reports that guards under Pink’s command were providing him with military security information.” Meanwhile, the contractor re-


placed White with his brother, identified asMr. White II. In August 2008, U.S. and Af-


ghan forces conducted an opera- tion on a house in the village of Azizabad, south of Herat, intend- ed to kill or capture a high-value Taliban commander during a meeting with insurgents. U.S. airstrikes were called in, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians. The incident sparked outrage throughout Afghanistan and led to a military apology and a change in coalition airstrike guidelines. AU.S. Army investigation later


found that some of the insurgents in the building “may have been security contractors or subcon- tractors for ArmorGroup,” the re- port said. Infact, it said, thehouse belonged to Mr. White II, and he and sevenmenemployed as secu- rity guards were among those killed. “In addition,” the report said,


“a search of the raid site revealed ‘extensive stores of weapons, ex- plosives, [and] intelligence mate- rials.’ ”


deyoungk@washpost.com


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eralmonths ago onWebsitesused by insurgent groups, surfaced last week on YouTube. It shows a group of soldiers firing at a rowof six men, in traditional Pakistani dress,whose eyes are covered and whose hands are secured behind their backs. The men fall to the ground, and one soldier walks up


tothebodiesanddeliverscoupsde grace. Pakistan initially denounced


thevideoasafake, suggestingthat it was manufactured to “malign” themilitary. But Obama adminis- tration and U.S. military officials, under pressure from Congress to addressPakistanimilitary abuses, have urged action. Pentagon and State Depart-


ment officials briefed House and Senate staffers on the Pakistan human rights issue Thursday on CapitolHill.U.S. lawprohibits as- sistance to any foreign military units shown to have committed rights abuses unless the govern- ment involved takes action against the guilty. That provision has been in-


voked without public announce- ment on several occasions involv- ing Pakistan, according to sources whowoulddiscussthematteronly onconditionofanonymity.Allega- tions of extrajudicial killings and illegal imprisonment by Paki- stan’s military have surfaced re- peatedly since last year.


EZ SU


The World In response to a wave of such


reports last spring, Kayani issued a human rights directive and said that no violations would be toler- ated.ButPakistanhasnotpublicly responded to abuse allegations, nor has it released the results of any investigations. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),


chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds foreign aid programs, and author of the law prohibiting military assis- tance to rights abusers, said Thursday that he expected action fromPakistan. “Given what’s happening in


Pakistan, with the closing of the border, the attacks against U.S. supply vehicles, and the reports of executions of civilians by Paki- stanisoldiers, Iwant toknowwhat changes will be made before we provide additional aid,” Leahy said. Inadditiontothevideo,Leahy’s


referencewas toongoingU.S.-Pak- istan conflict over the deaths of two Pakistani soldiers killed last week bymissiles fired byU.S. heli-


A9 Pakistani military chief promises inquiry into execution video


copters. Pakistan kept a key cross- ing into Afghanistan closed to NATO convoys Thursday, despite U.S. apologies for the incident. At a news conference in Islam-


abad, Foreign Ministry spokes- man Abdul Basit said Pakistani authorities were evaluating the security situationfor trucks carry- ing supplies throughtheTorkham pass to the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. He said a decision about reopening the pass would “be takenindue course.” Meanwhile, hundreds of trucks


remained idled at the pass,where drivers complainedthat theywere easy targets for gunmen. Also Thursday, the Pakistani


Talibanassertedresponsibility for two suspected suicide bombings that killed at least eight people and wounded scores of others in- side a crowded Sufi shrine com- pound in the southern city of Ka- rachi, police said. deyoungk@washpost.com brulliardk@washpost.com


Brulliard reported fromIslamabad.


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