Saturday, November 24, 2007

Testimony at Oversight Hearing

Old news...

Brief mention of von Ackermann and Manelick in an appendix provided with testimony at an Oversight Hearing for the House Judiciary Committee. Quotes and cites the 2005 article, Foul Play in Iraq? by Doug Waller in Time magazine.
Hearing on: War Profiteering and Other Contractor Crimes Committed Overseas
Tuesday 06/19/2007 - 2:00 PM
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

Testimony of Scott Horton (PDF), Adjunct Professor of Law Columbia University School of Law New York, NY, page 10

Appendix

Incidents Involving Military Contractors Where Investigation and Potentially Law Enforcement Action is Indicated


Disappearance of American Contractor

“On Oct. 9, 2003, Kirk von Ackermann, 37, was driving alone in northern Iraq when he pulled off the road with a flat tire and phoned the Kirkuk office of his employer - Ultra Services, based in Winters, Calif. - for help. A colleague arrived later to find the car but not Von Ackermann.”11

“Two months later, north of Baghdad, gunmen in an SUV shot and killed Ryan Manelick, 31, another Ultra Services employee, and an Iraqi traveling with him by car.

More...
You'd probably like an update on where things stand these days. In my corner of the world, it's been fairly quiet behind the scenes. As far as I know, there's only one new project still due for release that looks into the events surrounding von Ackermann and Manelick. The investigation sounds like it is at a dead end for the time being.

I still have a lot of mundane questions and am thinking of just going ahead and posting them. Here's one question, just to give you an idea of what keeps me awake some times:
Where did Kirk von Ackermann get his car?
Did he drive it from Istanbul and if so, was it a company car? Personal, borrowed, rental, lease, purchase, Istanbul, etc.