- Employees of American defence contractor Blackwater took more than 500 assault rifles that were intended for the Afghan police force and routinely carried weapons without permission, it emerged in a hearing of the Senate armed services committee today.
- It also emerged that to shed its sullied reputation and win contracting business in Afghanistan, Blackwater created what one senator called a shell company. Senators said that company, Paravant, deceived US officials into thinking Blackwater was not involved even as it laid claim to Blackwater’s past performance to establish a track record. “They made representations here that are wildly false,” said Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat. “Everyone knew in the field it was Blackwater trying to get rid of a negative name.”
- Paravant represented itself as a separate company, even as the training personnel were aware they had been hired by Blackwater, according to witnesses and senators.
- At the hearing today Levin warned that Afghan civilians did not distinguish between troops and contractors, and that when contractors misbehaved it turned the population against US forces and encouraged them to side with the Taliban.
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