The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "private security contractors" ...
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Cowboys of Kabul
US Protection and Investigations, a company owned by a Texas couple named Del and Barbara Spier, was, until recently, one of the largest security operations in Afghanistan. The company oversaw security of reconstruction projects but secured no-bid contracts, submitted false invoices, hired men from a notorious Afghan warlord, paid off militants and demonstrated many other corrupt actions. "The Cowboys of Kabul" details the actions of these and other corrupt contractors in America's war on terror.
Tags: USPI; Afghanistan; Spier; contractors; militants; fraud; security; contracts; military; private security;
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The Governor's Database
This story revealed that Texas Governor Rick Perry was compiling a massive database on Texas residents. A private contractor had been hired to collect personal information about millions of people. While the stated purpose of the database was homeland security, it was controlled by a political appointee working within the Governor's office, not by a law enforcement agency.
Tags: state government; privacy; public records; FOIA; homeland security
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System Error
The Sun used a FOIA request to obtain a declassified version of a 2003 NSA report on Trailblazer, the program designed to "fix the holes" in NSA's information filter. In the report the agency's inspector general found "'inadequate management and oversight' of private contractors and overpayment for the work done." A govenment official told The Sun, "The government has been standing by while the agency has been gradually 'going deaf' as unimportant communications drown out key pieces of information."
Tags: National Security Agency; NSA; Lt. General Keith B. Alexander; Trailblazer; 9/11; post-9/11 investigations; Science Applications International Corporation; SAIC; Freedom of Information Act; FOIA; Fort Meade; Threat Operations Center; Jared Adams; General Michael V. Hayden; FBI's Virtual Case File program; TASC
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Military Outsourcing in Iraq (series)
The author investigated the outsourcing of the Iraqi War by the US government. The reports covered the use of private contractors to train the Iraqi police force, the problems they encountered despite the positive spin from high ranking American military officials and presented a slide show of the training process, giving a visual indication of the difficulty faced by the trainers.
Tags: military; Iraq; Iraqi War; War on Terrorism; Iraqi Police Force; private security contractors; infiltration; insurgents; exit strategy; troop reductions; U.S State Department; SAIC; DynCorp