Afghanistan Foundation Issues Statement, Urges Transparency, Full Investigation, in U.S. Defense Contractor’s Death
For Immediate Release: February 20, 2013
Washington, D.C., and Kabul, Afghanistan
Afghanistan Foundation
The Afghanistan Foundation issued a statement today regarding the death on Sunday of a civilian U.S. defense contractor,
Ms. Christina Maddock, who served in Herat, Afghanistan, calling for her to be honored and for a full investigation and
disclosure regarding her death.
“It is with sadness that we have learned of the death of Christina Maddock who died tragically in service to the United
States and the freedom-loving people of Afghanistan,“ said Philip Smith, President and Executive Director of the
Afghanistan Foundation in Washington, D.C. “We are deeply concerned that on Tuesday, after major news media inquiries,
it was finally claimed in an enigmatic and mysterious fashion by a NATO ISAF spokesperson that Ms. Maddock, reportedly
died of wounds in a non-combat related firearms incident.”
“Christina’s life was highlighted and characterized by important and honorable service to the United States, both in the
U.S. Air Force and as a civilian defense contractor, working on behalf of U.S. national security interests and in
support of the hope and vision of a new Afghanistan,” Smith stated. “Her premature death, in the flower of her youth,
symbolizes the painful sacrifices of so many of America’s best and brightest; She, like many idealistic Americans,
joined the efforts of the U.S. military and the international community, in the post-September 11, 2001 era, to struggle
to free the suffering people of Afghanistan and to seek to make the world a better and safer place.”
Christina Maddock, 27, was reportedly serving as a civilian defense contractor for Intelligent Software Solutions, when
she was critically wounded in the Herat-area of Afghanistan. A Fairborn, Ohio, native, she died on Sunday in a U.S. Army
hospital in Germany, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
“Sadly, at least 2045 U.S. military personnel have died in support of the war in Afghanistan to date, however, the
deaths of courageous U.S. contract employees in Afghanistan, such as Christina Maddock, has been largely ignored or
forgotten,” Smith observed. “Many of these Americans died as heroes, worthy of the highest medals for their
extraordinary courage and valor, but will never be fully recognized for their sacrifices because U.S. companies are
still not required to report on the details, or share information, regarding their deaths in Afghanistan.”
Smith continued: “It is little understood that U.S. contractor deaths in Afghanistan continue at a very high level, in
some calendar years, to significantly outpace those of the U.S. military; For example, in 2011, some 430 American
contract employees were killed in Afghanistan, outpacing the 418 Americans soldiers killed in that same year. Enemy
forces in Afghanistan continue to target and kill American contract employees and non-governmental aid workers at an
alarming rate.”
Smith stated further: “We know that Herat is an area of great risk and a dangerous zone of conflict, close to the
Iranian border, so it is likely that Christina Maddock, encountered in the field, on more than one occasion during her
short tenure, hostile forces who often blend into the civilian population because they wear no uniforms; We may never
know the degree of Ms. Maddock’s sacrifices and heroism, and those of other U.S. contractor employees, who have died in
Afghanistan, in shrouded silence, too often maintained unnecessarily by the companies and Government that deployed them
to this combat zone.”
Smith concluded on behalf of the Afghanistan Foundation: “The Afghanistan Foundation expresses its sincere and deepest
condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues, of Christina Maddock and urges a transparent investigation, and full
disclosure, regarding the circumstances of her tragic death; Clearly, she and others who have made the ultimate
sacrifice in Afghanistan deserve more recognition, honor and fairness, from the United States, the government of
Afghanistan, and the companies they have worked for.”
The Afghanistan Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental, research organization (NGO) focused on public policy
issues in Afghanistan and the region. http://www.afghanistan-foundation.org It was co-founded by Mr. Philip Smith, and others, prior to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United
States, on the idea of helping to educate policymakers and the general public about the nation of Afghanistan, its
people, culture and history.
ENDS