The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

14 SEPTEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL planning and budgeting. Adams also observes that the QDDR is an opportunity to replace the current crisis-response approach with an actual strategy. But that can’t happen, he insists, unless the peripatetic Sec. Kerry gets off the airplane and “fully backs” the exercise. Since Associated Press correspondent Matt Lee’s challenge to State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki—to name one thing that was actually accomplished as a result of the 2010 QDDR—went unan- swered on April 22, the final product is likely to come under closer scrutiny. — Editorial Intern Aishwarya Raje and Managing Editor Susan B. Maitra Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? (Who Will Guard the Guards?) W riting in the June 13 Washington Post , Karen DeYoung summarizes a newly completed internal audit of secu- rity contracts at U.S. embassies. Alarm- ingly, a team from the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General found that none of the six posts it visited had fully complied with vetting and other require- ments for contractors who provide the first line of defense against attack. In particular, regional security officers at five of the six posts were said to have performed “inad- equate oversight” of local guard vetting. The OIG audit, conducted in the wake of the September 2012 attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi that left four Ameri- cans dead, examined six embassies. Although the names of the posts were redacted from the 49-page audit and its annexes, State said they were located in Africa, Europe and Latin America, and chosen based on “the estimated number of local guards employed and the ter- rorist threat level as of March 20, 2013, among other factors.” In redacted replies, security chiefs at each of the embassies agreed to recommended changes in their proce- dures. The audit notes that compliance had been completed in about half of the recommendations; the rest were in progress, but still undocumented by the embassies. The State Department hires local guards to augment U.S. security “because of growing security threats at posts worldwide,” the audit notes. Most are employed to “secure access to posts and provide building and residential secu- rity.” As of the end of 2012, the total bill for such hires worldwide was about $556 million. In March 2013, the audit said, there were 100 active local hire security contracts worldwide. The Senate should carve out State’s career nominees and expedite their confirmation just as it does for military promotions. Make no mistake: Vacancies in so many world capitals send a dangerous message to allies and adversaries alike about America’s engagement. This perception makes it much more difficult to do the nonpartisan work at the heart of U.S. foreign policy—defending the security of our nation, promoting our values and helping our businesses compete to create American jobs back home. —Secretary of State John F. Kerry, from a July 7 op-ed in Politico . Contemporary Quote