Waxman: State Investigator Blocked Corruption Probes to Support Bush

[L. Coyote]

Waxman: State Investigator Blocked Corruption Probes
By Paul Kiel - September 18, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004223.php

In a blistering 14-page letter today (pdf), House oversight committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) charged that the inspector general for the State Department Howard Krongard has been actively impeding probes into waste and corruption in Iraq and elsewhere. The basic allegation, as Waxman simply puts it, is that "you believe your foremost mission is to support the Bush Administration, especially with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than act as an independent and objective check on waste, fraud, and abuse on behalf of U.S. taxpayers." In other words, Waxman is charging that he's a hack, and the worst kind, too -- one that can do real damage.

Waxman has a litany of examples of Krongards' alleged hackishness, but one is particularly colorful.

There have been allegations that the contractor First Kuwaiti used forced labor building the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. So Krongard looked into it.

Only he had a peculiar method, according to Waxman's investigation. First, he insisted on doing the report entirely by himself and shut out his staff. And instead of seeking out the source of the allegations, he allowed the contractor to choose the employees that he'd interview. He ultimately interviewed six employees.

The result? Krongard declared that he found no evidence of human trafficking. ..............

[WCGreen]

1. One of the reasons for this crap is this....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3518032

[L. Coyote]

3. Great statistics presented in that report. Thanks for the link. Says it all!

Interesting Comparison between Clinton and Bush in the Harper's Index...

Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer...

36 the percentage of Federal inspectors general appointed by President George W. Bush who had prior audit experience....

66 the percentage of federal inspectors general appointed by President Bill Clinton who had prior audit experience...

45 Percentage of Bush appointees who held some prior political position...

22 Percentage of Clinton appointees who held some prior political position...

[L. Coyote]

2. US probes 'halted' to spare White House = seven officials have sought whistleblower status

US probes 'halted' to spare White House
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
5 minutes ago
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20858035/

The chief internal watchdog at the state department has been accused by former and current officials of systematically interfering with investigations to protect the White House from political embarrassment.

Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House oversight committee, said the officials had contacted his office to complain that Howard Krongard, the state department's inspector-general, "repeatedly halted or impeded" investigations undertaken by his office, including probes into wasteful spending and procurement fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Waxman said some of the seven officials who have contacted his office have sought whistleblower status to protect their jobs after alerting congressional investigators to a broad range of allegations about Mr Krongard's behaviour.

................

[L. Coyote]

4. Who Watches US Security Firms in Iraq?

Who Watches US Security Firms in Iraq?
By RICHARD LARDNER – 1 hour ago
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hx3jn-1MgXROlML7o_ifsoa8E60g

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fog of war keeps getting thicker. The Iraqi government's decision to temporarily ban the security company Blackwater USA after a fatal shooting of civilians in Baghdad reveals a growing web of rules governing weapons-bearing private contractors but few signs U.S. agencies are aggressively enforcing them.

Nearly a year after a law was passed holding contracted employees to the same code of justice as military personnel, the Bush administration has not published guidance on how military lawyers should do that, according to Peter Singer, a security industry expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

A Congressional Research Service report published in July said security contractors in Iraq operate under rules issued by the United States, Iraq and international entities such as the United Nations.

All have their limitations, however.

A court-martial of a private-sector employee likely would be challenged on constitutional grounds, ........

[L. Coyote]

5. Blackwater vice chairman, A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, formerly CIA's executive director " is the brother"

Blackwater Well-Positioned to Stymie Official Inquiries, Regulation
By Spencer Ackerman - September 19, 2007, 12:10PM
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004232.php

Blackwater doesn't just operate in a legal black hole in Iraq. The private-security firm has grown expert in protecting itself from oversight and regulation in Washington as well.

Over at POGO, Nick Schwellenbach connects Blackwater to House oversight committee chairman Henry Waxman's investigation of Howard Krongard, the State Department inspector general whom Waxman alleges stifled numerous corruption probes in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of those probes involved an alleged Blackwater scheme to funnel weapons into Iraq, and, Schwellenbach notes, it wouldn't be so difficult for Blackwater to know how to get around an IG probe. Its parent company, the Prince Group, recently hired the Pentagon's ex-IG, Joseph Schmitz.

Indeed, all throughout Blackwater are ways to get around government oversight: Cofer Black, the company's vice chairman, used to work at the CIA with A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, formerly CIA's executive director. And, yes, you read that last name correctly: Krongard of CIA is the brother of the current State Department IG. .....