K-9 detectionBomb-sniffing dogs in Afghanistan, Iraq may not be up to the task
The U.S. State Department uses nearly 200 bomb-sniffing dogs in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities; the department inspector general says that bomb-sniffing dogs in Afghanistan and Iraq are not being tested properly and may not be able effectively to detect explosives
Marine bomb-detection teams take some "down time" // Source: nydailynews.com
The U.S. State Department’s inspector general said that bomb-sniffing dogs in Afghanistan and Iraq are not being tested properly and may not be able effectively to detect explosives.
The inspector general’s review found that the companies hired to supply and train the animals were not testing them for all of the scents of the most commonly encountered explosives, increasing the chance of a dog missing a bomb in a vehicle or luggage. That puts U.S. diplomats at risk, the inspector general said.
The Los Angeles Times quotes the inspector general to say that the companies — U.S. Training Center in Moyock, North Carolina, a business unit of the company formerly known as Blackwater, and RONCO Consulting Corp. in Washington — also used expired or potentially contaminated materials for the scent tests.
Susan Pitcher, a spokeswoman for Wackenhut Services, RONCO’s parent company, called the inspector general’s review “inaccurate.” She said a canine expert engaged by the State Department to verify the detection capabilities of the dogs concluded that they complied with the required standards.
Pitcher, however, said that the company had not been provided the expert’s report, receiving instead what she described as “on-site briefings” about the results.
The inspector general’s office said it had not been given the results of the expert’s inspection when it released its report.
The L.A. Times reports that the inspector general’s review was limited to three canine programs handled by U.S. Training Center and RONCO. The report did not say how many dogs each contractor provides.
Overall, the State Department uses nearly 200 bomb-sniffing dogs. The report only offers a glimpse of the costs of these services, saying the State Department pays $24 million a year alone for canine services at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
The report faults the department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which is responsible for managing the canine program, for weak oversight. Investigators found that the contractors, not the bureau, were running the program and policing themselves.
During visits to Afghanistan and Iraq, the investigators did not meet any bureau personnel with expertise in bomb-sniffing dogs. “They depended upon the knowledge and expertise of the contractors to ensure all contractual requirements and other standards were met,” according to the report.
The contractors told the investigators “that no outside organization with expertise in explosive detection canines had ever reviewed their operations in Iraq or Afghanistan,” the report said.
In comments printed in the report, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security said it is taking steps to improve the canine program and plans to hire an independent expert who will ensure all the contract requirements are met properly.
