WHY?

The Story:

edit on 12-31-2012 by Springer because: (no reason given)



Do we have another situation similar to "Fast and Furious" happening in Afghanistan? Has our government been made aware that illegal weapons, RPGs specifically, are in the hands of civilian Afghan subcontractors hired by U.S. DOD, UN, the ISAF (International Security Assistance Forces), and NATO contractors to protect the convoys supplying our troops and done nothing about it? Afghan civilians who in multiple cases are claimed to have had zero background checks?Did the United States government, ignore the warnings of a whistle blower to the peril of Lt. Colonel Christopher Raible and Sergeant Bradley Atwell and the biggest loss of U.S. military aircraft in a single attack since the Vietnam war at Camp Bastion Afghanistan in September, 2012?It sure looks that way.While the mechanics are different, this time the people allowing, if not supplying , illegal RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades) to be within easy grasp of the Taliban aren't agents of the U.S. Government, they're just being paid by the U.S. Government (and others) via the United Nations, N.A.T.O. and the ISAF through lucrative Private Security Contracts.In these heated and heady days of the US government seeking to gain more control over weapons here at home due to tragedies in our communities, it appears that same government has little or no control over weapons in the very theater our military personnel are fighting, and sadly, dying in. While our country is split, right down the middle, over the second amendment, those who seek to assert more control have ignored a whistle that has been blowing for over a year. It also appears as though they may have ignored or "brushed off" information that could have prevented the Camp Bastion attack from happening or at least reduced its severity considerably.Several days ago we received an email from a gentleman in New Zealand, Mr. Ben Timmons, who claims to have been witness to illegal weapons, RPGs specifically, in the hands of Afghani subcontractors, working for a Private Security Company (PSC), who were under contract to guard convoys of fuel and other supplies in Afghanistan in February, 2011.Why does that matter? Two big reasons;1. RPGs are not supposed to be anywhere near PSCs in Afghanistan because they are the Taliban's weapon of choice and with the reported (by multiple sources) lack of security surrounding the PSCs in Afghanistan it doesn't take a rocket scientists to see why this would be a bad thing. RPGs 2. Mr. Timmons' location at the time of these events was a mere few hundred yards from Camp Bastion. That name should ring huge bells but I bet it doesn't unless you're following the war in Afghanistan very closely.Camp Bastion was the scene of a devastating attack by the Taliban in September, 2012. Members of the Taliban, dressed in U.S. Army uniforms and wielding RPGs assaulted the Camp and killed Lt. Colonel Christopher Raible and Sergeant Bradley Atwell by firing RPGs at them. The Taliban also destroyed more U.S military aircraft than any single attack has destroyed since the Vietnam war. BBC Article - Camp Bastion Attack What you're about to read may give you an idea of how the Taliban might have got their hands on those uniforms and the RPGs they did so much destruction with. We've redacted the names of the people involved to protect their privacy.Being a whistleblower is not an optimal position to be in but Ben Timmons won't give up. His story has it all; claims of kidnapping, beating, cover up and a breach of contractual restrictions by contractors paid to protect ISAF supply convoys that may well have led to one of the most damaging attacks on an ISAF facility to occur in Afghanistan and the death of two of America's finest.In spite of contacting every official agency, group and person he could think of Ben claims the situation described in the following pages has gone uninvestigated and this is the first time it's been publicly brought to light. The main reasons given for no investigation have been either a lack of jurisdiction or, a lack of substance to the claims after what appears to be very limited questions asked of people who didn't have the complete story.Ben's understanding, based on the responses he received from the two or three officials who indicate they actually looked into these allegations, the case was given a cursory look (a few questions asked of one or two people) and then handed over to the prime contractor (Supreme Group) for them to deal with.Considering the company that is the focus of this story, Compass ISS has been under scrutiny before, Compass ISS 2010 Investigation , it's surprising, to say the least, little if anything has been done about this from what we can tell based on the record Ben has presented us.As recently as this month he has received emails telling him what he saw and experienced "didn't happen" (pretty strong language) with, according to Ben, no copies of an investigation report or any evidence of an investigation at all.It is our hope this gets the attention it deserves and some formal investigation into the situation with PSCs in Afghanistan is looked at through a more scrutinizing eye.Ben was hired by Compass ISS in December 2010. He left New Zealand on 15 January, 2011 and headed to Kabul for initiation training which was completed on 24 January, 2011. Upon completion of his orientation training he was assigned to the Helmand Regional Distribution Center (HRDC) at Camp Bastion which is operated by Supreme Group www.supreme-group.net/ a global supply and logistics company.Compass was contracted to provide all the security for the entire HRDC and the convoys bringing fuel, food, and other supplies to Camp Bastion.Upon arrival at HRDC Ben was assigned as a site coordinator. Ben understood his job was to do whatever the senior management needed him to do. After about a week overseeing the fuel operations at the site he was asked to temporarily take over the duties of the Compliance Officer.Ms. H., the current Compliance Officer, was scheduled to go on leave so Ben was asked to "shadow" her for the few days leading up to her departure so he could learn the job and the duties required to carry it out.This is the point where things went horribly wrong according to Ben.During the second day of following Ms. H., Ben discovered RPGs under a blanket in the rear of one of the guard vehicles during his compliance inspection at the check point all the guard vehicles had to pass through to exit the compound. Ben stepped back away from the vehicle and reported what he saw to Ms. H. who responded, strangely, "I've never seen one".Let's stop here for a moment...RPGs are illegal in Afghanistan for obvious reasons, they are the Taliban's weapon of choice. ISAF regulations also forbid the possession of RPGs among non combatant personnel. In other words, a PSC allowing its employees (subcontractors or otherwise) to have RPGs in Afghanistan is huge violation of just about every law, regulation, and contract stipulation and basic common sense imaginable.According to Ben the only weapons these guards were supposed to be carrying were Compass issued AK47s. the PSCs are supposed to keep track of all the weapons in the theater and only those authorized and issued by the PSC should be available to the subcontracted guards.Continued...