State Dept.'s Inspector General Quits

(NEWSER) - An internal State Department assessment has deemed the recently completed US embassy in Baghdad grievously overstaffed, McClatchy Newspapers report. “There is a clear consensus from the top to the bottom of the embassy,” State’s inspector general writes. “The time has come for a significant rightsizing.” The embassy’s 1,200 employees are now occupying dormitories designed for 600. More»

DOJ runs up against immunity deal, possible gaps in US law

(NEWSER) - The Justice Department warned Congress last month that major legal obstacles stand in the way of any prosecution of private security firm Blackwater for a September shooting in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Immunity granted by the State Department to Blackwater employees represents a possible roadblock; Justice also has not resolved questions about whether federal law applies to Blackwater contractors. More»

Stream of Iraqi reports went unheeded over two years

(NEWSER) - The Bush administration ignored repeated warnings about using private security contractors such as Blackwater in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. Despite the warnings from legal experts and military officials over the past two years, the US did not acknowledge the need for oversight—and, in fact, expanded the presence of such firms—until the killing 17 Iraqi civilians in September, the Post notes. More»

State Dept. official steps aside after admitting "ugly rumors" are true

(NEWSER) - The State Department’s top official investigating Blackwater withdrew from the probe today after a dramatic admission that his brother has links to the private security contractor. At a congressional hearing, Howard Krongard initially called the alleged ties “ugly rumors,” but after a recess during which he called his brother, the independent internal investigator recused himself from the probe, Reuters reports. More»

Issues with evidence, immunity make prosecution tough

(NEWSER) - Legal cases against Blackwater employees accused of committing murder and other violent crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan have been collapsing one by one, the New York Times reports. This week, the Justice Department dropped a case against an armorer accused of killing a guard to an Iraqi official; the move is the latest in a series of cases dropped due to difficulty gathering evidence, establishing jurisdiction, and working around promises of immunity. “The battlefield is not a place that lends itself to the preservation of evidence,” said an expert. More»