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Virginia Company Sued For Improperly Training Guards In Iraq

By: Jessica Jordan // November 1, 2012
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The United States is joining a lawsuit against a major defense contractor that's accused of not properly training guards in Iraq.

The lawsuit accuses the Reston based company, Triple Canopy Incorporated, of using hundreds of unqualified foreign nationals from Uganda to guard Iraq's second largest airbase.

The suit also states the company falsified documents to cover up the fact that guards could not pass minimum standards for handling firearms.

The suit against Triple Canopy was originally filed in an Alexandria, Va. federal court by a whistleblower back in 2009.

The federal government is joining the suit under a law that allows it to intervene if the government believes the whistleblower's claims.

Triple Canopy, which started providing security at the Iraq base, after receiving a one-year contract worth $10 million in 2009, declined to comment on Wednesday.

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