News Snips

Two recent articles that mention hostages Jonathon Cote (deceased) and Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (alive), who is still held captive in Afghanistan.

Motorcyclists hit the road in memory of local man
By Kathleen Ronayne, Buffalo News, August 13, 2012

More than 300 motorcycle riders turned out Sunday afternoon for the fourth annual Memorial Motorcycle Run in honor of Jonathon Coté, who was kidnapped and killed in Iraq while working as a private security contractor.

In the on-and-off rain, the group rode from Williamsville North High School, from which Coté graduated, to Lewiston. […] Proceeds from Sunday's ride will go to a scholarship for a local high school student and to Western New York Heroes.

Obama tells family: Hostage soldier is a focus
By John Miller, Army Times/Associated Press, August 9, 2012

President Barack Obama called the parents of an American prisoner of war to assure them that he and the U.S. Department of Defense were doing everything in their power to free Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl three years after his capture in Afghanistan.

The soldier's father, Bob Bergdahl, told The Associated Press on Thursday through a spokesman that the family is now confident that everything that can be done to return their son to U.S. control is being done.

6 Degrees from Kabul

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

Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl and WikiLeaks

Documents detail search for captive soldier
By John Miller, The Associated Press, July 29, 2010

[Pfc. Bowe] Bergdahl, a 24-year-old from Hailey in central Idaho, has been a captive since June 30, 2009.

Documents posted on the whistle-blower group WikiLeaks' website include transcripts of Afghan radio transmissions intercepted after Bergdahl went missing from his base in southern Afghanistan — as well as reports from U.S. soldiers about talks with village elders about a possible prisoner swap.

The documents show Afghan tribal leaders assured U.S. officials Bergdahl was unharmed. [...]

According to a transcript of what appears to be a radio transmission intercepted July 1, 2009 — the day after Bergdahl's capture — people aware he was being held hostage discussed what to do with him.

Reference material posted at WikiLeaks:

(CRIMINAL EVENT) KIDNAPPING RPT B CO 1-501 PIR : 0 INJ/DAM

WikiLeaks, Afghan War Diary, July 26, 2010

At 0430Z, TF 1 Geronimo reported a B Co missing soldier after he did not show up for the 0900L morning roll call at Mest OP, grid 42SVB 59236 47877 Yahya Khail District, Paktika. A full search was ordered. At 0535Z, TF 1 Geronimo initiated DUSTWUN procedures for the missing soldier. At 0645Z, all remaining units had reported in 100% accountability. Geronimo TOC ordered blocking positions set in and around Mest OP. At 0707Z, Predator (VooDoo) was on station in support. At 0940Z, a Pathfinder and tracking dog team arrived at Mest OP in support. At 0945Z, Predator (Pfingston) arrived on station in support. At 1012Z, LLVI receives traffic that an American Soldier with a camera is looking for someone who speaks English. At 1303Z, Graphic 33(2x F-18) arrived on station in support. At 1309Z, FF receive intelligence that a U.S. soldier has been captured. At 1351Z, VooDoo and Pfingston RIP with Predator (Sijan). At 1520Z, Sijan RIPs with Predator (Kisling) and DUDE-21 (2x F-15) arrives on station to support. Between 1725Z and 1800Z, B Co conducted 2 breaches of suspected enemy locations with NSTR. Additional forces were moving into the area to place blocking positions and conduct searches based on all of the aerial and ground based intelligence sources available throughout the day and through the night.

There's much more including updates.

My question, does a similar report exist for the disappearance of Kirk von Ackermann on October 9, 2003? Did the US Army in Iraq launch drones and intercept radio transmissions? I'd like to think they left no stone unturned, but I've been told the answer to that question is a big NO. That in fact, CID never requested assistance from any of the various agencies who were conducting surveillance in Iraq.

Missing in Afghanistan

To date, this blog has focused on Americans known to be missing in Iraq.

On Friday, two American Navy servicemen were captured by a Taliban 'faction' in the Logar province south of the Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. Also missing for over one year in Afghanistan is a US Army Private, Bowe Bergdahl of Idaho.

CNN is now reporting the body of one of the US Navy service members - reported as killed during a firefight - has been recovered with their vehicle.

Taliban negotiating over captured Navy personnel in Afghanistan
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times, July 25, 2010

A Taliban faction that said it had killed one U.S. serviceman and captured another offered to exchange the slain man's body for an unspecified number of insurgent prisoners, an Afghan official said Sunday.

The two Americans, identified by Western officials as U.S. Navy personnel, were last seen Friday in a dangerous part of Logar province, south of the Afghan capital. A massive ground and air search by NATO and Afghan forces was underway, with the men's photos plastered at military checkpoints and a reward offered for information about them.

Local officials: 1 of 2 abducted U.S. service members killed
By Matiullah Mati, CNN, July 25, 2010

Den Mohammad Darwish, the spokesman for the governor of Logar province, said he learned from locals that the service member was killed. Hesaid the body was found in the Patanak Mountains of Charkh district. He also said the vehicle the men were driving was located Sunday.

A Taliban spokesman confirmed that the killed American died in a firefight and the other is being held by the group.

UPDATE: Remains of both men have now been recovered. The identities of the US military personnel are Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley of Wheatridge, Colorado and Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Jerod Newlove of Renton, Washington.

Sincere condolences to the friends and families of both men.

Local sailor's body recovered in Afghanistan
AP, with Hal Bernton, Susan Gilmore and Maureen O'Hagan, Seattle Times, July 29, 2010