Missing in action: Service members left behind
By Austin Wright, Politico, February 8, 2012
With U.S. combat troops out of Iraq and a time frame for a pullout set in Afghanistan, an ominous question looms: Who will we have left behind?And of course, there's still others missing. There's a link to the list just up there under the header for this blog.
In Iraq, at least one U.S. service member is currently listed as missing, along with three defense contractors. [...]
More than five years later, Altaie’s case remains unsolved and has been turned over to the missing personnel office, along with those of three missing defense contractors: Kirk Von Ackermann, lost since 2003; Timothy Bell, lost since 2004; and Adnan al-Hilawi, lost since 2007.
Investigators spent the past two months reviewing files and crafting plans for how to proceed on each case. “It’s a lot of reading through records of various things that have happened in the past and putting that all together,” said the official at the missing personnel office. “It’s like detective work.”
The DPMO website cites 4 men as missing - see below. And yet, other contractors are known to still be missing. My only guess as to why others were omitted from the DPMO list is they weren't working under contract for the Department of Defense.
Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003-2010
- Staff Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie, U.S. Army, was lost on Oct. 23, 2006 while serving in Iraq as a translator for the U.S. military
- Mr. Kirk Von Ackermann, DoD contractor, was lost on Oct. 9, 2003, while working in Forward Operating Base Pacesetter, Iraq
- Mr. Timothy E. Bell, DoD contractor, was lost on April 9, 2004, while working in Baghdad, Iraq
- Mr. Adnan al-Hilawi, DoD contractor, was lost on March 3, 2007, while working in Baghdad, Iraq
According to news reports, remains of Staff Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie were received on February 22, 2012 and identified through DNA testing.
ReplyDeleteMr. Adnan al-Hilawi, DoD contractor, was lost on March 3, 2007, while working in Baghdad, Iraq
ReplyDeleteCan I have more information about his kidnapping all details if possible, there is a well known terrorist in Baghdad who still holding 2 U.S personnel under captivity. Which I doubt the U.S have any clue about.