Canadian man and American woman kidnapped in Wardak Afghanistan

Khaama Press  October 12, 2012

According to reports two foreign nationals were abducted by unknown gunmen in central Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan.

A local security official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the two individuals were kidnapped in Syedabad district.

The source further added the two individuals including a Canadian Man and an American woman were civilians.

They were kidnapped while they were on their way from eastern Ghazni province to capital Kabul.

No group including the Taliban militants has so far claimed responsibility behind the incident.

Afghan government officials yet to comment regarding the report.

Please see the original and read more here

Iraq convoy was sent out despite threat

Unarmored trucks carrying needed supplies were ambushed, leaving six drivers dead. Records illuminate the fateful decision.

“Can anyone explain to me why we put civilians in the middle of known ambush sites?”

“Maybe we should put body bags on the packing list for our drivers.”

T Christian Miller The LA Times  September 3, 2007

Senior managers for defense contractor KBR overruled calls to halt supply operations in Iraq in the spring of 2004, ordering unarmored trucks into an active combat zone where six civilian drivers died in an ambush, according to newly available documents.

Company e-mails and other internal communications reveal that before KBR dispatched the convoy, a chorus of security advisors predicted an increase in roadside bombings and attacks on Iraq’s highways. They recommended suspension of convoys.

“[I] think we will get people injured or killed tomorrow,” warned KBR regional security chief George Seagle, citing “tons of intel.” But in an e-mail sent a day before the convoy was dispatched, he also acknowledged: “Big politics and contract issues involved.”

KBR was under intense pressure from the military to deliver on its multibillion-dollar contract to transport food, fuel and other vital supplies to U.S. soldiers. At Baghdad’s airport, a shortage of jet fuel threatened to ground some units.

After consulting with military commanders, KBR’s top managers decided to keep the convoys rolling. “If the [Army] pushes, then we push, too,” wrote an aide to Craig Peterson, KBR’s top official in Iraq.

The decision prompted a raging internal debate that is detailed in private KBR documents, some under court seal, that were reviewed by The Times.

One KBR management official threatened to resign when superiors ordered truckers to continue driving. “I cannot consciously sit back and allow unarmed civilians to get picked apart,” wrote Keith Richard, chief of the trucking operation.

Six American truck drivers and two U.S. soldiers were killed when the convoy rumbled into a five-mile gauntlet of weapons fire on April 9, 2004, making an emergency delivery of jet fuel to the airport. One soldier and a seventh trucker remain missing.

Recriminations began the same day.

“Can anyone explain to me why we put civilians in the middle of known ambush sites?” demanded one security advisor in an e-mail. “Maybe we should put body bags on the packing list for our drivers.”

Please read the entire story here

SIGIR: Iraq Reconstruction Casualties

Nothing was safe or “soft” about reconstruction missions, according to the report. “The human losses suffered in Iraq and outlined in this report underscore the point that when such operations are conducted in combat zones, they are dangerous for everyone involved,” the report said.

OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION
We have posted selections from this report which pertain to Civilian Contractor Casualties

SIGIR SPECIAL REPORT NUMBER 2   Special Report, July 27, 2012

 THE HUMAN TOLL OF RECONSTRUCTION OR STABILIZATION OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM

 Reconstruction or Stabilization Casualties

Deaths

SIGIR identified a total of 719 people killed while engaged in reconstruction or stabilization activities in Iraq between May 1, 2003, and August 31, 2010.      This number includes 318 Americans (U.S. military, federal civilian employees, and U.S. civilian contractors), 111 third- country nationals, 271 Iraqis and 19 of unknown nationality who were working in support of the U.S. reconstruction or stabilization mission during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Wounded

Combing through various sources, we identified at least 786 people reportedly wounded while performing reconstruction or stabilization-related missions in Iraq.  This included 289 U.S. service members, 17 U.S. civilians, 109 third-country nationals, 334 Iraqis and 37 others (nationality undetermined).

 Kidnappings

We accounted for at least 198 people kidnapped while working on U.S.-supervised
reconstruction or stabilization projects.

6 Degrees from Kabul

by Susie Dow at The Missing Man  May 1, 2012

Shortly after President Barack Obama left Afghanistan earlier today, blasts were reported in and around Kabul. According to multiple breaking news stories, the ‘Green Village’ was one of the intended targets of the suicide bombers.

Car bomb shakes Kabul after Barack Obama visit to Afghanistan
May 1, 2012, Guardian

The Green Village is owned and operated by Stratex Freedom Services whose two Uzbeki principals were once former partners with John Dawkins, one of the original founders of Ultra Services of Istanbul, Turkey.

Ultra Services was the logistics firm which employed Kirk von Ackermann and Ryan Manelick in Iraq.

You can learn more about the history of John Dawkins, Ultra Services and Stratex Freedom Services in an article at ePluribus Media, just shy of 6 years to the day since it was first published.

One Missing, One Dead: an Iraq Contractor in the Fog of War
By Susie Dow, May 12, 2006, ePluribus Media

Reprint here at this blog:

One Missing One Dead: An Iraq Contractor in the Fog of War (full article reprint)
By Susie Dow, ePluribus Media, May 12, 2006

 

Americans Missing, Left Behind in Iraq, mostly contractors

“Basically, the mentality of the Secretary of State seems to be that if the

United States loses a member  of the United States military,

then the loss becomes a relevant statistic on the ‘War on Terror,’

when the United States loses a contractor . . .

then there is no accounting for the loss of life. . . .

a result, the true cost in lives and money

of the ‘War on Terror’ is understated.” 

from Joshua Munns case

While the DPMO shows only 4 Americans left behind in Iraq

Missing in Action: Service Members and Civilian Contractors left behind

Susie Dow at The Missing Man has compiled a list which includes 18 Americans left behind, the majority of those being Civilian Contractors

Below is a chart showing the name, incident date, an expired link to an incident report (SIGACT), and status of those Americans known to be missing and/or held hostage in Iraq in table format. The chart shows an estimated 18 missing Americans of whom, the names of 6 are unknown. An additional 2 American’s names are known but the date of incident is not.

Text of available SIGACT reports are posted at SIGACT Reports of Americans Missing in Iraq.

Americans Missing in Iraq – as of January 21, 2012

Names missing from the chart below: Hussain al-Zurufi and Bob Hamze

	Date	Name – incident report	Status
1	Oct 9, 2003	Kirk von Ackermann	missing	1
2	Apr 9, 2004	Thomas Hamill (link expired)Convoy Attack	escaped
3	Apr 9, 2004	Nicholas Evan Berg	deceased
4	Apr 9, 2004	William Bradley	deceased
5	Apr 9, 2004	Pfc Keith Matthew Maupin	deceased
6	Apr 9, 2004	Timothy E Bell  Convoy Attack	missing	2
7	May 3, 2004	Aban Elias	missing	3
8	Aug 13, 2004	Micah Garen	released
9	Sept 16, 2004	Jack Henlsey	deceased
10	Sept 16, 2004	Olin Eugene Armstrong Jr	deceased
11	Oct 10, 2004	Paul Taggart	released
12	Nov 1, 2004	Roy Hallums	released
13	Nov 2, 2004	Dean Sadek	missing	4
14	Apr 11, 2005	Jeffrey Ake	missing	5
15	May 17, 2005	Neenus Y. Khoshaba – incident?	missing	6
16	Aug 2, 2005	Steven Charles Vincent	deceased
17	Sept 27, 2005	Abbas Kareem Naama (Tim)	missing	7
18	Nov 25, 2005	Ronald Alan Schulz	deceased
19	Nov 26, 2005	Thomas William Fox	deceased
20	Dec 2, 2005	unknown #1	missing	8
21	Jan 7, 2006	Jill Carroll	released
22	Jun 16, 2006	Pfc Kristian Menchaca	deceased
23	Jun 16, 2006	Pfc Thomas Tucker	deceased
24	Oct 23, 2006	Sgt Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie	missing	9
25	Nov 16, 2006	Jonathon Michael Cote	deceased
26	Nov 16, 2006	Paul Christopher Johnson-Reuben	deceased
27	Nov 16, 2006	Joshua Mark Munns   Torture	deceased
28	Nov 16, 2006	John Roy Young	deceased
29	Nov 27, 2006	Maj Troy Lee Gilbert (deceased)	missing	10
30	Jan 5, 2007	Ronald J Withrow	deceased
31	Jan 27, 2007	unknown #2 – incident?	missing	11
32	Jan 27, 2007	unknown #3 – incident?	missing	12
33	Feb 1, 2007	unknown #4 Iraqi-American	missing	13
34	Mar 3, 2007	Adnan al-Hilawi	missing	14
35	Apr 25, 2007	unknown #5	missing	15
36	May 12, 2007	Sgt Alex Ramon Jimenez	deceased
37	May 12, 2007	Pfc Byron W Fouty	deceased
38	May 25, 2007	unknown #6	missing	16
39	Aug 17, 2007	unknown #7	missing	17
40	summer 2008	unknown #8	missing	18
41	May 21, 2009	Jim Kitterman	deceased
42	Jan 23, 2010	Issa T Salomi	released

Hostages Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted Rescued from Somali Pirates by US Navy SEALS

U.S. Navy Seals free American and Dane hostages from pirates in Somalia after being kidnapped in October.

See Also Somali Pirates Demand 50m Kroner for Demining Workers

Malta Today January 25, 2012

An American and a Dane were rescued by U.S. helicopters after being held hostage by pirates in Somalia.

The two hostages were working for the Danish Demining Group (DDG), a refugee council, and were kidnapped in October in the semi-autonomous Galmudug region.

American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted were rescued in a rare raid into the Horn of African nation by the helicopters in an attempt to free foreign captives.

Nine pirates were killed and five captured during the rescue operation according to Galmadug’s president, Mohamed Ahmed Alim who added that he was negotiating to secure the release of an American journalist kidnapped on Saturday.

Alim said attacks on pirate bases were very rare and thanked the U.S. for their intervention because pirates were considered the mafia in the region.

Two teams of U.S. Navy Seals landed by helicopter after a gun fight with the kidnappers and took the freed hostages to an undisclosed location

Please see the original here