For Benghazi diplomatic security, U.S. relied on small British firm
WASHINGTON/BENGHAZI, Libya, Oct 17 (Reuters) – The State
Department’s decision to hire Blue Mountain Group to guard the
ill-fated U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, entrusted
security tasks to a little-known British company instead of the
large firms it usually uses in overseas danger zones.
The contract was largely based on expediency, U.S. officials
have said, since no one knew how long the temporary mission
would remain in the Libyan city. The cradle of last year’s
uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, Benghazi has
been plagued by rising violence in recent months.
Security practices at the diplomatic compound, where Blue
Mountain guards patrolled with flashlights and batons instead of
guns, have come under U.S. government scrutiny in the wake of
the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador J.
Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
Federal contract data shows that the Benghazi security
contract, worth up to $783,284, was listed as a “miscellaneous”
award, not as part of the large master State Department contract
that covers protection for overseas embassies.
“Blue Mountain was virtually unknown to the circles that
studied private security contractors working for the United
States, before the events in Benghazi,” said Charles Tiefer, a
commissioner at the Commission on Wartime Contracting, which
studied U.S. contracting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Several British government sources said that they were
unfamiliar with Blue Mountain, which is based in Wales. They
said British authorities used a different contractor for
security protection in Libya.
Fred Burton, vice president of intelligence at the Stratfor
consulting firm and a former U.S. diplomatic security agent,
said he did not know Blue Mountain, but it likely got State
Department work because it was already working in Libya.
“They may have been the path of least resistance,” he said.
Blue Mountain was able to work in Libya because it forged a
business alliance with a local security firm, as required by
Libyan regulations.
Eric Nordstrom, former regional security officer for the
U.S. Embassy in Libya, testified at a congressional hearing last
week that contracting out for security in the eastern Libyan
city “was largely based on our concern of how long we would be
in Benghazi. We were concerned that if we retained or brought on
board full-time employees we would have to then find a position
for them if that post ever went away.”
In describing the challenges of hiring private security at
Benghazi, he added: “It’s my understanding that there was a very
high turnover with those people.”
GUARDS OF BENGHAZI
Blue Mountain hired about 20 Libyan men – including some who
say they had minimal training – to screen visitors and help
patrol the mission at Benghazi, according to Reuters interviews.
Some of the guards sustained injuries and said they were
ill-prepared to protect themselves or others when heavily armed
militants last month stormed the rented villa that was serving
as the mission.
They also described being hired by Blue Mountain after a
casual recruiting and screening process.
State Department security officials had their own concerns
about some of the guards at the mission months before the recent
attack, according to emails obtained by Reuters this week. One
guard who had been recently fired and another on the company’s
payroll were suspected of throwing a homemade bomb into the U.S.
compound in April. They were questioned but not charged.
The State Department has declined to comment on the company
other than confirming it was the contractor in Benghazi. Blue
Mountain did not respond to numerous emails and phone calls, and
a person answering the phone at its office in Carmarthen, Wales,
said the company would not discuss the issue.
Previously known as Pilgrim Elite, Blue Mountain says on its
website that it offers security services and professional
training and has operated in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan.
The website once listed General Motors as a client, and a GM
spokeswoman in Detroit told Reuters that Blue Mountain’s work
for the company was “on a very limited basis and mostly in the
UK.”
A Blue Mountain recruiter posted a notice on a security
website in 2011 seeking employees with visas to work in Libya.
The State Department contract for “local guard” services in
Benghazi took effect in March 2012. Several of Blue Mountain’s
Libyan employees told Reuters that they had no prior security
training or experience.
“I was never a revolutionary or a fighter, I have never
picked up a weapon during the war or after it,” said Abdelaziz
al-Majbiri, 28, who was shot in the legs during the Sept. 11
assault.
The Libyan commander in charge of the local guards at the
mission was a former English teacher who said he heard about
Blue Mountain from a neighbor. “I don’t have a background in
security, I’ve never held a gun in my life,” he said, speaking
on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.
When hired, the commander said he was told “you have great
English and get along with everyone and are punctual; we want
you to be a guard commander.”
The unarmed guards were told to sound the alarm over the
radio and then run for cover if there was an attack, a Libyan
who acted as a supervisor for the Blue Mountain local guard team
at the mission said during an interview with Reuters.
He also displayed a medal embossed with “Department of
State” and a horseman carrying Libyan and U.S. flags. “They
thanked us for our help and also gave us this medal as an
appreciation,” he said.
Despite their inexperience, the Blue Mountain guards said
they feared the Americans were not concerned enough about
security.
“We used to tell the Americans who spoke to us on many
occasions that we needed more support in security, because it
felt thin on the ground. But they didn’t seem to be so worried,
and (were) confident that no one will dare to come close to the
consulate,” one guard said.
‘DOWN IN THE WEEDS’
Tiefer, who is also a government contracting law professor
at the University of Baltimore, said the Benghazi contract paled
in comparison to other State Department security awards.
“This is down in the weeds,” he said in a telephone
interview.
Most State Department work goes to eight large private
security firms with vast experience.
In the late summer of 2011, after Libyan rebels took control
of Tripoli, Blue Mountain guards were seen working security at
the Corinthia Hotel and its sister Palm City residential
compound in the Libyan capital.
A United Press International report indicated that Blue
Mountain and its local partner, Eclipse, also were competing for
contracts guarding oil fields.
Blue Mountain and Eclipse parted ways in the spring over
problems with Tripoli contracts, several sources familiar with
the matter said.
The severed relationship may have prevented Blue Mountain
from getting additional work in Libya, which required the local
affiliation.
On a social network website earlier this year, a Blue
Mountain official described the firm as “one of the few
companies certified and legally allowed to work in Libya.”
Blue Mountain Chief Executive Officer Nigel Thomas, a former
British special forces member, did not respond to emails or
phone calls.
NO EASY TASK
Setting up security in Libya after the anti-Gaddafi
revolution was not easy, documents show.
In a July 9 memo approved by the late ambassador Stevens,
regional security officer Nordstrom said his office hoped to
shore up defenses at U.S. compounds in Libya and would consider
partial arming of some local guard supervisors, without being
more specific.
But Nordstrom described difficulties getting local gun
permits, noting it could take up to 60 days for “selection,
training, equipping, policy approvals and deployment” of armed
guards.
View full post on Tabassum Zakaria
http://www.GregoryDEvans.com, http://www.Locatepc.net, http://stolencomputeralert.com, http://computersecurityexpert.net, http://www.hackerforhireusa.com, http://www.GregoryDEvans.net, AmIHackerProof.com, http://ParentSecurityOnline.com, http://TheCyberWars.com, http://hiphopsecurity.com, http://HackerForHireinternational.com, http://www.computersecurityguru.com, http://computer-security-expert.com
