U.S. official reverses self: The State Department official responsible for ensuring the agency operates ethically removed himself yesterday from any investigations related to Blackwater Worldwide after telling lawmakers his brother is a member of the embattled security contractor's advisory board.
Inspector General Howard Krongard first told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that his brother, Alvin Krongard, had no financial interest or connections to Blackwater. The company is the subject of several federal investigations related to its work in Iraq, including a Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad involving Blackwater guards that killed 17 Iraqis.
After Democratic committee members insisted Alvin Krongard did have connections with Blackwater, Krongard called his brother, a former top CIA official. Howard Krongard said after the call that his brother had attended a Blackwater strategic planning meeting this week in Williamsburg, Va.
The revelation by Howard Krongard angered Republicans who had been defending him from what they said were politically motivated attacks.
“I'm not my brother's keeper,” Krongard said when pressed to explain how he could have been unaware of the connection. Krongard said his brother had assured him he had no conflicts of interest.
But the Web site TPM Muckraker quoted Alvin Krongard as saying, “I had told my brother I was going on the advisory board.”
Sunni allies shot: A leader of one of the Sunni groups opposed to al-Qaeda in Iraq told Al-Jazeera television that U.S. soldiers killed dozens of his fighters during a 12-hour battle that began Tuesday night near Taji.
“The raids continued for more than 12 hours ... despite the fact that, right from the first attack last night, we have continuously been contacting American commanders that they are hitting us, their friends,” said Mansour Abid Salim of the Taji Awakening Council. “The scene was horrible with corpses dotting the area, bodies cut into pieces by shelling,” he said.
U.S. officials said U.S. soldiers killed 24 fighters and captured 16 in a battle that began late Tuesday after gunmen were seen “in the target area” where suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq militants were believed hiding.
Baquba fighting: Fighting between al-Qaeda in Iraq and local defense groups erupted yesterday in two villages east of Baquba, Diyala's provincial capital. Police said al-Qaeda in Iraq used to control both villages – one Sunni and the other mixed – until U.S. and Iraqi forces drove them out weeks ago. About 40 displaced families had begun to return to their homes, when al-Qaeda in Iraq attacked early yesterday, trying to reclaim the area, police said.
Five people were killed – two civilians and three al-Qaeda in Iraq members – and six others were wounded in the fighting, police said.
Hawija killings: Gunmen riding a Toyota vehicle killed an Iraqi soldier in the Hawija main market yesterday afternoon. When a police patrol arrived, the same gunmen killed a policeman and ran away.
