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Summary
Defence Secretary Robert Gates will review allegations of misconduct in Afghanistan by the company formerly known as Blackwater and shares concerns raised by a top senator, the Pentagon said.Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin had made a personal appeal to Gates last week for the Pentagon to consider blocking a potential $1 billion contract with Blackwater, which has changed its name to Xe, to train Afghan police. Levin cited what he called evidence of misconduct in a previous subcontract awarded to a Blackwater affiliate to conduct weapons training for the Afghan National Army. He is looking into it and he takes it seriously, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said of Gates. But Morrell played down the chances of any swift action to bar Blackwater from contracts, citing Pentagon rules and the company's unique capabilities. Like it or not, Blackwater has technical expertise that very few companies do have. And they have a willingness to work in places that very few companies are willing to work. So they provide a much-needed service and the ability to do it well, he added. In a letter to Gates dated February 25 and released publicly on Thursday, Levin, a Democrat, said Blackwater may have used a front company for the contract, made false official statements and misled Defence Department officials in its proposal documents. There was also evidence Blackwater may have misappropriated government weapons, carried weapons without authorization and hired unqualified personnel with backgrounds that included assault and battery, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, Levin said. Levin said the Pentagon should consider Blackwater's past deficiencies in deciding whether to award the new contract worth as much as $1 billion to the company to provide Afghan national police training. A US court last December threw out manslaughter charges against the Blackwater guards involved in that incident, a decision that outraged Iraq's government. In January, two US security contractors working for Paravant LLC, a unit of Xe, which was previously known as Blackwater Worldwide, were arrested in Afghanistan on charges they murdered two Afghans in Kabul and wounded a third.
