Army failure to screen Afghan workers found to risk US troops

Army failure to screen Afghan workers found to risk US troops
By TONY CAPACCIO
Bloomberg News
Published: January 11, 2013

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army failed to ensure that Afghan translators were properly screened at the start of the Obama administration's troop surge in Afghanistan, endangering soldiers they worked with, according to the Pentagon's inspector general.

Only 656, or 15 percent, of 4,310 Afghan nationals hired by Columbus, Ohio-based Mission Essential Personnel under a $1.46 billion contract received full counter-intelligence screening in 2009 and 2010, according to a Dec. 7 audit labeled "For Official Use Only."

President Barack Obama increased U.S. troops levels in Afghanistan by 51,000 during 2009 and 2010. The inspector general began an investigation after a linguist hired by Mission Essential Personnel killed two U.S. Army special forces officers and wounded an aide, all of them unarmed, in January 2010.
read more here