Blackwater probe stifled by conflicts

Source: ap

Blackwater probe stifled by conflicts

By RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer 14 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The State Department's acerbic top auditor wasn't happy when Justice Department officials told one of his aides to leave the room so they could discuss a criminal investigation of Blackwater Worldwide, the contractor protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.


The episode reveals the badly strained relationship between Bush administration officials over the probe into whether Blackwater smuggled weapons into Iraq that could have gotten into insurgents' hands.
............

A key date was July 11, when Howard Krongard, State's inspector general, sent an e-mail to one of his assistant inspector generals, telling him to "IMMEDIATELY" stop work on the Blackwater investigation. That lead to criticisms by Democrats that Krongard has tried to protect Blackwater and block investigations into contractor-related wrongdoing in Iraq.

"Instead of cooperating, Mr. Krongard apparently created a series of obstacles to the inquiry," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee examining Krongard's performance as the State Department official responsible for stamping out waste, fraud and abuse.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071126/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/state_vs_justice_blackwater

Can't count on Bush to pardon everyone.

he's going to stonewall an investigation into his own brother's wrongdoing.

If his bro was innocent there'd be no point stopping it, would there?

Are we (Democrats) gonna just whine and let it slide?

Again?

if bits and bytes were cobra venom every fucking Democrat in Congress would be dead by now! Why not just come clean like Obama and say that there will be no more inestigations, that they are all forwarding looking folks and past transgressions just ooze negativity. eyeeew wouldn't want negativity now would we.

venom dripping, sarcastic vile venom!

But that can't be the case, because Dubya is such a good, Christian man he'd never hire someone crooked.