Licensed to Kill (10 page)

The Afghan guards at the entrance to the palace appear flummoxed by my request to visit a member of Karzai's protective detail. I had met Pete when I traveled with his Special Forces ODA during the earliest phase of the war in Afghanistan, and we had kept in touch in the two ensuing years. Pete and I had been chatting on his Afghan cell phone since I had arrived in Kabul, and he told me to just stop by the palace for a visit. Outside the small gate office, I could see a group of American contractors standing around behind their sandbags. Frustrated by the Afghans' refusal to allow me entrance, I just politely tell them that I am going to go over to talk to the Americans and that if I am an imposter, the Americans would shoot me before they could.

Calling the Afghans' bluff, I then run into a wall of bureaucracy as the Americans have to radio the command center, check my bags, search me, and figure out what to do. They finally radio to see if Pete is around. He answers back that he is working the “old man's” PSD, “walking the diamond” while Karzai attends meetings. I am supposed to wait until he can break away.

Since the contractors are not allowed to receive packages, I suggest that they check my camera bag and confiscate a suspicious item—a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label. A gift of liquor usually earns fast friendship with contractors working in a country that bans its sale. Nick, who is working the gate, is especially appreciative, and we hang out while he gives me a thorough briefing about his job.

Nick, a former Marine Forward Recon from a small town in the Midwest, is at the tail end of his contract with DynCorp. He saw working the Karzai detail as a way to make money, continue his interest in the military, and be part of a unique moment in history. A young, bearded operator, Nick takes me through the mechanics of joining the Karzai detail and the specifics of what they can expect and encounter while on duty.

“To join the detail, a résumé is sent to DynCorp, which is sent to the State Department. If the State Department then decides that the candidate qualifies, a bio is requested and more paperwork is generated. The next step is to pass a psychological test and fill out the forms to get a top-secret clearance. Then DynCorp sends the applicant a class date. The class goes through three weeks of training for close protection; driving; shooting; close-quarter battle, or CQB; hand-to-hand stuff; and other topics related to the State Department requirements for personal protection details. An average of seven applicants are dropped during the classes. Graduates are issued gear; sign a raft of paperwork, including employment contracts, insurance forms; and then are flown to Afghanistan. On arrival the scrutiny continues. When you get to the detail, the newbies are evaluated by all sections: CAT [counterassault team], snipers, PRS [primary ring security], and drivers. Then the team leaders sit down and pretty much choose who they want. If drivers got the first pick from the last class, then CAT or snipers will get the first pick from the next class. Usually the best shooters and guys go to PRS because they are the actual bodyguards.”

These days the team consists of mainly ex–Delta Force, Marine recon, Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, and air force combat controllers. There are also two active-duty combat controllers assigned for close air support capabilities, which can include A-10s, Apache helicopter gunships, and B-52s. Regardless of any kind of supply shortage the military may suffer, the Karzai detail wants for nothing. According to Nick, “it is amazing the money they spend in this detail. State Department went out and bought all the same gear, radios, weapons, vehicles, that DEVGRU had when they ran the detail, and that is what we use. Today there is a B-1 bomber on station for a show of presence. The pilots decide to buzz the palace and the city of Kabul to remind everyone of America's military might. The Karzai detail still has carte blanche from the Pentagon. Ammunition requests, any type of support, never gets turned down.”

All of the autos used for the Karzai detail are fully armored, and DynCorp uses a combination of Lexus and Mercedes-brand SUVs. Contractors on the Karzai detail carry M-4s and Glock 19s and are each issued a personal Motorola radio for communication while on duty. Those operating the PRS have to wear collared shirts or a suit and tie over their body armor, since they're likely to be in the background during media photos, but the rest can wear whatever they want. The style of the detail still echoes the look Craige Maxim created. Some dress OGA-style with distinctive safari vests and outdoor runners, while others sport a casual look that almost says fishing or weekend hunting. They have relaxed grooming standards, and members can wear beards, goatees, and long hair.

A normal day on the detail starts the night before when Karzai returns from his day of meetings. At the front gate of his house, the Afghan chief of protocol asks Karzai when he will be coming to work the next day. That time is passed on to the shift leader of the detail. The shift leader announces the time over the radio for the leaders of the PRS, drivers, and countersniper teams. Then the team leaders from each section check in to let the shift leader know that every element of the detail knows when to be ready the next morning. Much of Karzai's work is local, but when he goes farther afield or when important dignitaries are at the palace, a specialized counterassault team (CAT) is included in the schedule.

Karzai's movements are limited because he is such a high-value target. Most of his movements are inside the secured palace area. No matter where he goes, even inside the palace grounds, he has a full contingent of foreign contractors and Afghan bodyguards walking the diamond. Nick walks me through the daily routine of protecting Karzai from assassination: “In the morning, the drivers and bodyguards… get ready on the boardwalk of the camp one half hour prior to the start time. They then get into the Suburbans and drive to the Man's house. The drivers take the vehicles to get washed, and PRS and the two State Department guys [shift leader and agent in charge—AIC] wait in front of the house. Afterwards, the drivers show up when the vehicles are done and stage also in front of the house. The Man comes out, and the personal detail or the ‘diamond' walks Karzai to the office in the palace along with some Afghan bodyguards. The drivers follow behind the diamond with the limo and Suburban in case the Man gets ambushed on the way to the office. Snipers are covering from rooftops around the move site. Afterwards, the bodyguard stays with Karzai and rotates through positions at the office building.”

Karzai spends most of each day in meetings, making Nick feel privileged for his special position watching the business of running Afghanistan. “I have gotten a chance to meet some very interesting people on this detail, especially working PRS. When you are at position three by the Man's office, you hear and see a lot. I have heard Karzai talking to George Bush, Kofi Annan, CIA and MI6 officials, and many other dignitaries. I have helped protect Pervez Musharraf from Pakistan, Hillary Clinton, Senator McCain from Arizona, president of Albania, prime minister of Belgium, and Colin Powell, plus numerous generals and foreign ambassadors, and Rush Limbaugh. I have also seen BBC, CNN, and PBS do their interviews with him, and a ton of press conferences. When the three UN officials were taken hostage in Kabul, I even overheard American generals and Karzai discuss the rescue of the three hostages, which never took place because the Afghan government negotiated with terrorists and paid the ransom. One of the hostages was the wife of the top UN official here in Afghanistan. I have also seen many jihad leaders.

“During the afternoon, Karzai goes to the mosque to pray. The detail walks him again. Then they take him to lunch in a building where he will typically eat lunch with elders from different provinces of Afghanistan. The elders are there to bitch at him and give him gifts. Snipers work this event, just in case. This is a daily occurrence for this schedule. At times in the evening, Karzai will also go and visit the king of Afghanistan, who lives on the palace grounds. That move also requires the bodyguards, drivers, and countersnipers.

“In the afternoon after his meetings, the bodyguards walk him back to the office with drivers following once again in the vehicles and snipers providing cover from buildings around the area. PRS then takes up their positions again around the office building and continue to work until the Man goes home. Protocol will give the State Department shift leader the time to go home, and he then announces it over the radio again. The Man then gets walked home just like when he was getting taken to the office in the morning. That's a typical day of keeping Karzai alive.”

Though Nick may enjoy certain aspects of his position near the circle of Afghan power, he can never forget the ever-present danger in which he operates. Karzai still has a long list of enemies, and attacks can be as random as the time when someone fired two rockets at him as he walked out of his office. The rockets went high and long, and his bodyguards managed to grab him and push him into a building. There are other attempts that Nick remembers: “There are three incidents that have occurred that stick in my mind the most. The car bombing of DynCorp was a huge bomb that killed three DynCorp employees. It rocked everything around us. At the time, Karzai was outside talking to elders from another province. He was obviously nervous, but would not go inside or stop talking, even though a car bomb just went off a few thousand meters from him.” The car bomb had targeted the antidrug trainers working for DynCorp and may have heralded the new direction of the war, not with the Taliban or al-Qaeda, but by drug interests against the U.S.-hired companies who aim to shut down Afghanistan's most lucrative business.

The second incident was a firefight in front of the palace. “We were standing there and I heard two sounds like a cap gun. It was rounds whizzing by my head. Then all hell broke loose and about a thousand rounds were fired. People were trying to storm the ministry of defense across the street, and the guards shot into the crowd, killing three people.”

The closest call, however, came when Karzai was on a campaign tour in 2003. Despite the difficulty of traveling, Karzai had been under a lot of pressure to campaign, even though the force of U.S. public-relations dollars behind him virtually assured his election. The media was coordinated to document a campaign stop in Gardez, still a hotbed of Pashtun resistance to the U.S.-supported government.

Nick remembers: “We already knew there was a huge threat and tried to talk the Man out of going. He still insisted. We were flying two CH-47s and two Apaches. I was on the helicopter with Karzai and my team. When we approached Gardez, I looked out of the helicopter and saw a mass of people coming out of their houses. We were already on edge. Intel was coming in from our CAT teams and snipers already on the ground. It didn't look good. The first helicopter landed with all of the press. As we came in, we unbuckled and were ready to run out and form a box. We form a box or diamond to protect the Man as he walks from the helicopter to the armored vehicle. I expected to land softly, but about fifteen feet off the ground, the helicopter just dropped. A rocket went right over the top of our helicopter. The State Department shift leader yelled ‘SAM!'—surface-to-air missile—over the radio. One of the vehicles on the ground also took a single shot from somewhere. Our helicopter tried to do evasive maneuvers to get us out of the area. We grabbed on to anything we could. We thought we were dead. The pilot got us onto our side, and we dropped so fast I thought we were going to crash along with everyone else. I threw my seat belt on and waited for the impact that never came. The pilot pulled it up and got us out of there. There was a rocket, maybe two fired at us. When we got back to the palace, the pilot landed, we got off, and he took off as fast as he could. You could tell he was scared shitless. Karzai was also a little shook up.

“The next day Karzai wanted to go back, but State said hell no, even though George Bush was pushing him to get out and campaign before the elections. One reporter asked Karzai why he would not go back, because most presidents would have. The press is so fucked up sometimes.”

Though one might expect DynCorp to have learned a lesson after having to manage a crisis of losing their first Karzai detail because of a pay dispute, it appears that old ghosts still haunt the system. Nick has decided to leave for a job with Blackwater in Iraq, and Pete has decided to leave as well and work for his old SF captain doing training in Arizona. One of the team members mentions, “DynCorp is trying to screw our new guys out of the pay increases. DynCorp is notorious for fucking their people when it comes to money. I have been here a year and half and we threatened to walk twice. The whole detail just said they would quit because they try to screw us out of money. They have given in a few times, but it looks like they won't this time for these new guys. Most of these guys are thinking about going to other companies and breaking their contracts because of this. The State Department will blackball them from going to other companies like Blackwater that have State Department contracts if they quit. It is really screwed up.”

DynCorp's contract to provide the palace guard is just one of many contracts with the U.S. government, ranging from $600 million to eradicate drugs in Colombia to $500 million to train police in Iraq. The contract to protect Karzai is only one part of a $43-million contract related to Afghanistan, a minuscule line item in DynCorp's $1.8 billion in annual revenue.

Karzai, called the “Mayor of Kabul” for his lack of influence outside the palace, remains on the American payroll and maintains hope that his American protective force will continue their work uninterrupted by contract negotiations or a loss of support by the U.S. government. In May of 2005, following violent demonstrations sparked by reports of American mistreatment of Afghan prisoners, Karzai asked President Bush for more control over the twenty thousand U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Bush declined his offer. Karzai could force the issue, but since he relied on American largesse to provide the security that keeps him alive, he couldn't push too hard without endangering his own position of privilege. Karzai is wise to take his cues from the U.S. president. Karzai no doubt closely followed the downfall of Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti in the spring of 2004. The Aristide coup illustrates how effectively a security detachment funded by a private contract can not only support a leader's hold on power, but also, possibly, contribute to his overthrow.