DynCorp disputes WikiLeaks allegations
A salacious, scandalous story involving allegations of child sex that has unfolded on blogs and websites over the last two weeks seems to implicate DynCorp International, a major Fort Worth employer.
The problem, say both DynCorp and the U.S. State Department, is that the story is exaggerated and the worst parts of it untrue.
The recent release of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks prompted the reports. Among the cables is one that discusses a meeting with Afghan Minister of Interior Hanif Atmar, who wanted the U.S. to help quash a possible newspaper article about foreign employees of DynCorp hiring "dancing boys" to perform at a party.
Britain's Guardian newspaper published an article Dec. 2 about the memo and the minister's meeting with embassy officials. The article tied the reported party to "a long [Afghan] tradition of young boys dressing up as girls and dancing for men ... that sometimes crosses the line into child abuse with Afghans keeping the boys as possessions."
From there, several websites caught on to the story.
"U.S. Contractor Threw 'Dancing Boys' Party for Afghan Police," was Slate's headline. The Houston Press, prominently pointing out DynCorp's operations in Fort Worth, wrote: "Texas Company Helped Pimp Little Boys to Stoned Afghan Cops."
It's not the first time DynCorp employees overseas have been linked to a sex scandal.
"It's Deja Vu for DynCorp All Over Again," headlined The Huffington Post, referring to a scandal in the late '90s. DynCorp employees in Bosnia were accused of being involved in prostitution and procuring young girls for sex.
In the Afghanistan case, both DynCorp and the State Department say what occurred was far less sinister than portrayed in such reports.
According to a detailed statement provided by DynCorp spokeswoman Ashley Burke, a going-away party for a departing Afghan employee was held at the regional police training center in Kunduz. The party organizer, a local employee, hired "a 17-year-old local dancer who performed at ... weddings and other celebrations, to perform a traditional Afghan dance."
Shortly after the dancing began, a DynCorp manager "recognizing that the situation was culturally insensitive ... stopped the performance," according to the statement.
The company conducted its own investigation of the matter, "determined that the leadership of the team exhibited poor judgment and were subsequently terminated. That is the whole story; no alcohol or drugs were involved, or other illegal behaviors occurred."
The State Department concurred, saying there were no drugs, no alcohol and no boys procured for sex.
"There was no evidence of any of that," said Susan Pittman, spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.
Both the bureau and the Office of the Inspector General investigated the matter, Pittman said, including reviewing videos of the party.
For several days after the leaked memo was published, DynCorp's Burke said, none of the online media writing about it bothered to contact the company or the State Department. Eventually, one blog, TalkingPointsMemo, did and reported the company and State Department side of the story.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/17/2713558/dyncorp-disputes-wikileaks-allegations.html
Another homo story shot down in flames.
You have me convinced....that "persecution" has got to cease.....