Thursday, October 1, 2009

Report: Official impeded Blackwater probe

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by SouthPark lawyers on behalf of 9-year-old Ali Kinani and other Iraqi shooting victims has renewed allegations that N.C.-based Blackwater contractors used illegal weapons overseas.

Paper Trail, meanwhile, has found a report showing the government shared such concerns as far back as two years ago, but a top official with ties to Blackwater looked the other way.

The Congressional report details allegations prior to the bloody Nisoor Square shootings that killed Kinani (right) and at least 13 other civilians on a street outside Baghdad in September 2007. Blackwater guards face federal charges.
The report alleges that former State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard impeded a Justice Department investigation into whether "a large private security contractor was smuggling weapons into Iraq." It was reported at the time that the contractor was Blackwater.
Krongard's brother, Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard, served on Blackwater's advisory board, and the report also concluded that Krongard had a conflict of interest in the matter.

Critics who said the report was politically motivated offered a rebuttal defending Krongard, who has since resigned.

Questions about unauthorized weapons resurfaced in July in legal filings by former Blackwater employees. The statements, connected to another lawsuit in Virginia, are attributed to John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 because the former guards said they fear retaliation.

The suit, filed in Wake County, buffers arguments that Blackwater guards acted recklessly by referencing the former employees' statements.

They include these allegations:

"I was asked to assist with unloading bags of dog food into the Armory. As I unloaded the bags of dog food, another Blackwater employee opened the bags and pulled out weapons from the dog food. Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq." - John Doe #1

"Mr. Prince made available to his employees in Iraq various weapons not authorized by the United States contracting authorities, such as hand grenades and hand grenade launchers." - John Doe #2

Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., has said its men did nothing wrong.

- Fred Clasen-Kelly, Doug Miller


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Moron #1. Did you condemn John Murtha for calling the Haditha Marines incident "murderers?" I doubt with our limited intellectual capacity that you even know who Murtha is or that the fact that every one of these Marines were found innocent.

The fact is you vote and you are dangerous without even knowing it which makes you a perfect liberal/weasel.

Anonymous said...

Southpark lawyers?
Is it too much to name the firm?
Or the attorneys involved in criminalizing the actions of these contractors who are doing the necessary dirty work required, that no government agency wants to do?

Anonymous said...

Bush and Obama are both corrupt. We NEED A REVOLUTION!!!LESS GOVERNMENT MORE FREEDOM AND LIBERTY!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Newsflash....Obama did not write his own books. Bill Ayers is the true author.

Anonymous said...

It's a war. What is an illegal weapon? What should be illegal is the way 0bama is hanging our Soldiers and Marines out to die by not allowing them to use all available weapons at their disposal. Thanks to his rules of engagement we are now losing servicemen and women and the war in Afghanistan.

Anonymous said...

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government" Thomas Jefferson

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. Southpark lawyers and renegade Blackwater mercenaries. I smell another irritating, bombastic TV show. Good to know there's so much work in NC revolving around Iraq. Obama and Letterman should make a road trip over there together since they're so into each other.

Anonymous said...

war is hell

Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone "over here" should comment on anyone actions "over there." These guys are getting paid to do the dirty work that "official government action" doesn't cover. When you go to sleep at night you should thank these guys for doing their work. These are the ones that get it done and you never hear about them until they possibly make a mistake. Then we treat them like criminals doing what they were supposed to. If they felt they were under attack, they did the right thing. If not they made a mistake. They didn't wake up that morning looking to kill innocent Iraqi's.

Anonymous said...

Concerned about Blackwater/Xe Services and other mercenaries and private armies? Visit Blackwater Watch at http://blackwaterwatch.net

Unknown said...

It's always interesting to read comments showing so much Support for the mercs while sheepishly trying to claim support for the military soldiers who actually serve this Country and Constitution, written by, and one can tell, little 'kombat keyboarder chickenhawks' one wouldn't find serving, we had plenty of you all while we were serving in 'Nam, probably your parents! For all you 'experts?' on War and Occupations let me explain something, the Actions by mercs, highly paid hired guns, create 'Blowback' on the real soldiers in these theaters, getting them Killed and Maimed, and in these times of the long running criminal terrorism, knowing no borders and happening long before 9/11 and since, create 'Blowback' on the Countries Citizens and Interests anywhere of those who Occupy. The mercs, being frankly unlawful fighters, hired guns, run amuck knowing they're not held accountable, thus leaving the 'Blowback' to fall on others!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

What part of "thou shalt not kill" do people not understand? "Christian soldier" is an oxymoron.

Anonymous said...

Dear warmongers:

We are NOT at war, and the murderous activities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are not making you safer or protecting your freedom.

What is going on is a military occupation of a foreign country and it is a criminal activity.

John C Baughman said...

hmmmm...shouldn't we be worried about real crimes like 'alleged attempted voter registration fruad that was perpretrated against ACORN' and the real scary 'czars' in the Obama administration...LOL....Glenn Beck and the wackos at the F-word Network has distracted public opinion away from Blackwater and Haliburton and Wackenhut and all the corrupt government defense and state dept contractors....
not a peep outta his right-wing wacko christian evangelicals about the shooting of innocent civilians and the child-sex rings organized by Blackwater. Wackenhut tortures detainees and not a peep outta them. Hmmmmmm....
how much is the GOP paying him to do their dirty work and be the distant bad guy...giving them cover for the GOP crimes...in addition, the nonsense attention to ACORN has taken away from the health care reform and American Free Choice Act and the war in Af-Pak.
does the media think the public is still stupid? Hasnt last Nov. shown that we are better than they think we are?
we set a trillion dollars on fire by invading and occupying Irag and Af-Pak; $1.7 trillion tax cut for the richest 1%; $800 unpaid drug subsidy favoring the big pharma; $800 billion Bush bail-out for Wall Street big shots who lost their money and ran to the govt for help...Obama gets elected and NOW they play the game of teabagging??????
NOW they are protesting government spending??
Doesn't that fall under the definition of hyprocracy?