State Department Under Hill Scrutiny
By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- A congressional committee has launched an investigation of the State Department's inspector general, alleging he blocked fraud investigations in Afghanistan and Iraq, including potential security lapses at the newly built U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Also under scrutiny is whether Blackwater USA, the private security firm banned this week from working in Iraq for the alleged killing of eight civilians, was "illegally smuggling weapons into Iraq," according to a letter to IG Howard J. Krongard obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.
The Democrat-led investigation accused Krongard of trying to protect the White House and the State Department, telling him in the letter, "your partisan political ties have led you to halt investigations, censor reports, and refuse to cooperate with law enforcement agencies."
Based on charges from a number of current and former senior investigators who worked for Krongard, the letter from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also questioned whether he adequately investigated illegal labor trafficking allegations involving the Kuwaiti company that was building the Baghdad embassy.
Ralph McNamara, the former deputy assistant inspector general for investigations, said in an Associated Press interview Tuesday that he came forward with the allegations against his former boss because he was concerned that State Department employees would be at risk when working in the new embassy.
"A rocket - an unexploded munition - went through a portion of a cement ceiling there, and it was supposed to be an area able to withstand a direct hit from a missile that did explode," said McNamara. He said investigators wanted to look into charges that the walls were not built to the required thickness or concrete consistency, but they were blocked from pursuing it.
U.S. workers, he said, "were putting their lives on the line and assuming that the facility they were going into was going to provide them all the protection they needed, and that's not true ... With all these allegations coming in, we need to make sure these folks were being protected."
Krongard's office said the inspector general was traveling Tuesday and unavailable to comment
LinkHere
Also under scrutiny is whether Blackwater USA, the private security firm banned this week from working in Iraq for the alleged killing of eight civilians, was "illegally smuggling weapons into Iraq," according to a letter to IG Howard J. Krongard obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.
The Democrat-led investigation accused Krongard of trying to protect the White House and the State Department, telling him in the letter, "your partisan political ties have led you to halt investigations, censor reports, and refuse to cooperate with law enforcement agencies."
Based on charges from a number of current and former senior investigators who worked for Krongard, the letter from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also questioned whether he adequately investigated illegal labor trafficking allegations involving the Kuwaiti company that was building the Baghdad embassy.
Ralph McNamara, the former deputy assistant inspector general for investigations, said in an Associated Press interview Tuesday that he came forward with the allegations against his former boss because he was concerned that State Department employees would be at risk when working in the new embassy.
"A rocket - an unexploded munition - went through a portion of a cement ceiling there, and it was supposed to be an area able to withstand a direct hit from a missile that did explode," said McNamara. He said investigators wanted to look into charges that the walls were not built to the required thickness or concrete consistency, but they were blocked from pursuing it.
U.S. workers, he said, "were putting their lives on the line and assuming that the facility they were going into was going to provide them all the protection they needed, and that's not true ... With all these allegations coming in, we need to make sure these folks were being protected."
Krongard's office said the inspector general was traveling Tuesday and unavailable to comment
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:19 PM
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