One of the great pieces of impunity of the post-9/11 era: the Times yesterday reported that the head of Blackwater in Iraq threatened to kill a State Department official investigating that warrior companys behavior to his face with a witness present -- and Embassy officials in that country took Blackwaters side, sent the threatened man home, and no action was ever taken. Talk about being in post-legal America, that, I think, takes the cake. Tom The next day, the two men met with Daniel Carroll, Blackwater’s project manager in Iraq, to discuss the investigation, including a complaint over food quality and sanitary conditions at a cafeteria in Blackwater’s compound. Mr. Carroll barked that Mr. Richter could not tell him what to do about his cafeteria, Mr. Richter’s report said. The Blackwater official went on to threaten the agent and say he would not face any consequences, according to Mr. Richter’s later account. Mr. Carroll said that he could kill me at that very moment and no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq, Mr. Richter wrote in a memo to senior State Department officials in Washington. He noted that Mr. Carroll had formerly served with Navy SEAL Team 6, an elite unit. “Mr. Carroll’s statement was made in a low, even tone of voice, his head was slightly lowered; his eyes were fixed on mine, Mr. Richter stated in his memo. I took Mr. Carroll’s threat seriously. We were in a combat zone where things can happen quite unexpectedly, especially when issues involve potentially negative impacts on a lucrative security contract. He added that he was especially alarmed because Mr. Carroll was Blackwater’s leader in Iraq, and organizations take on the attitudes and mannerisms of their leader. Mr. Thomas witnessed the exchange and corroborated Mr. Richter’s version of events in a separate statement, writing that Mr. Carroll’s comments were unprofessional and threatening in nature. He added that others in Baghdad had told the two investigators to be very careful, considering that their review could jeopardize job security for Blackwater personnel. Mr. Richter was shocked when embassy officials sided with Mr. Carroll and ordered Mr. Richter and Mr. Thomas to leave Iraq immediately, according to the documents. nytimes/2014/06/30/us/before-shooting-in-iraq-warning-on-blackwater.html
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:15:00 +0000
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