Linda Norgrove By AP/Heidi Vogt and Robert Kennedy Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
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1) In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen emphasized that "whatever happened, I would like to stress that those who are responsible of course are the captors."
2) Norgrove, 36, from Scotland's Isle of Lewis, worked on a U.S.-funded aid project for Development Alternatives Inc., a Bethesda, Maryland-based organization. She was abducted in an ambush on Sept. 26 while driving toward Asadabad, the capital of Kunar province, according to Afghan officials. She was to oversee projects in the area.

Linda Norgrove US commando disciplinary
EXCERPT:
Linda Norgrove managed to break free from her captors, but tragically was not seen by her rescuers, according to Guardian sources

Startling details of the daring rescue mission that ended in the death of the British aid worker Linda Norgrove can be revealed today, as a joint US-UK investigation into the incident gets under way.

The Guardian has learned that a US special forces soldier who is believed to have accidentally killed Norgrove is likely to face disciplinary action after failing to inform his commanding officers that he had used a grenade until long after the event.

Sources in Kabul and London have confirmed that during the assault on the kidnappers' hideaway the hostage broke away from her captors and lay in a foetal position to avoid harm.

The soldier from the elite Seal Team Six special forces unite failed to see Norgrove and tossed his fragmentation grenade in, which exploded next to her.

It has also emerged today that:

• US forces monitored the kidnappers using a network of informers and drones

US contractor deaths skyrocket in Afghanistan
EXCERPT:
Recently released Department of Labor records show that at least 521 U.S. contractors have been killed in Afghanistan since the war began in October 2001. The majority, 332, have been killed in the last 12 months alone -- an increase of 175 percent over the previous year.

According to the DOL's website, this is not an official count of the number of contractor deaths. The statistics only reflect the number for which an insurance claim was filed.

Contributing to this alarming trend is the Taliban's recent increase in targeting State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development "implementing partners" -- another name for firms contracted by the U.S. government to implement development programs in Afghanistan.

Taliban attacks US aid office in Afghanistan
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The pre-dawn attack took place in the relatively peaceful Kunduz province.

Provincial governor Mohammad Omar said that Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers stormed the offices of Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI).

Development Alternatives Inc
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U.S.
Mandated Oversight Missing in Afghan Contracts
Sanada Sahoo

WASHINGTON, 15 Feb (IPS) - Lack of oversight of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contractors in Afghanistan is not a new story.

But when all eight USAID contractors in Afghanistan who had been called in for a roundtable meeting with Sen. Claire McCaskill earlier this month said they do not have to file any documents with USAID for the multi-million-dollar projects they are working on, even the senator was surprised.

"I knew USAID wasn't excited about SPOT filing," she said at the Feb. 3 roundtable meeting of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight. "But I didn't know they were this unexcited."

In 2008, USAID, the State and Defence Departments signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing that the Synchronised Predeployment and Operational Tracker, or SPOT, would be the system of record.

However, representatives of the organisations present at the roundtable meeting said their contracts with USAID did not include a clause on having to file SPOT documents.

As late as November last year, the Government Accountability Office found that USAID does not require SPOT documents from its contractors in Afghanistan and has no time frame for doing so.

The roundtable had invited Black & Veatch, Creative Associates International, Chemonics International, Inc., Deloitte & Touche (BearingPoint), Development Alternatives, Inc., International Relief and Development Inc., International Resources Group, and the Louis Berger Group.

Among those present, all except the Louis Berger Group report exclusively to USAID. Louis Berger also reports to a private contractor.

Development Alternatives Inc. sourcewatch
EXCERPT:
Development Alternatives Inc.
From SourceWatch
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Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) is a development consulting company based in Bethesda, MD, USA.

DAI acted as a conduit for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) (through the Office of Transition Initiatives) and National Endowment for Democracy (NED} funds to the Venezuelan opposition to president Hugo Chavez. Furthermore, it was instrumental along with NED affiliated organizations for financing black propaganda on Venezuelan private network TV during the general strike in 2002. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that DAI was required to keep certain personnel in Venezuela and had to consult with USAID about staff changes. Philip Agee, a former CIA officer, suggests that this is merely a cover for what passed for CIA operations in the past [Agee, op. cit. (transcript here)].

In 1990, Experience International Inc. was purchased by Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) and operated as that company's Agriculture and Agribusiness Division. [1]