Kidnapped

Heads up.

Colin Freeman, who first wrote about the disappearance of Kirk von Ackermann, has a new book coming out on his own kidnapping in Somalia. Today, Freeman is chief foreign correspondent on The Sunday Telegraph.

Description from the publisher.

Kidnapped: Life As A Somali Pirate Hostage
By Colin Freeman, Monday Books, June 2011

Somalia: the world’s most notorious failed state, and one of the most dangerous places on earth.

It’s a land of pirates, criminal gangs and militant Islamists, which even the military might of the U.S.A. couldn’t tame. With no government for two decades, there can be few worse places to be taken hostage...

This is Sunday Telegraph foreign correspondent Colin Freeman’s account of being kidnapped on the lawless Somali pirate coast - and how it became a haven for modern-day buccaneers.

There's also a short piece by Colin Freeman at the BBC.

Somalia: What is it like to be kidnapped?
By Colin Freeman, BBC, June 29, 2011

The Missing Man in 2D

Gosh - for a long time, I've wanted a hard copy of the Missing Man for reading and reference offline. After some research, I finally settled on a primitive PDF format as it allows the embedded links to remain active. It's not perfect but it works. The least I can do is share it with anyone who wants a copy. (I plan to update Volume 4 some point in the future) 

The Missing Man blog posts are divided into 5 separate volumes. They are available for download (free) through Google docs.

Volume 1 - Introduction, Overview, Index, Bibliography

Volume 2 - November 12, 2003 - May 13, 2008

Volume 3 - May 25, 2008 - March 28, 2010

Volume 4 - March 31, 2010 - June 13, 2011

Volume 5 - Appendix

Download Directions

To download or print each volume, after following the link, just click on 'File' in the upper left hand corner. See insert below.

Captivity - book

James Loney, a Canadian, was one of the four members from Christian Peacemaker Teams seized in Iraq on November 26, 2005.

Loney has written a memoir of his experience which is due out in April. He was abducted with Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden, British citizen Norman Kember and American Tom Fox. Two additional books have been written to date on the CPT kidnapping - details can be found at the Books link below.

Captivity
118 Days in Iraq and the Struggle for a World Without War
By James Loney, Knopf Canada, April 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-39927-4 (0-307-39927-3)

About the author:

James Loney is a Canadian peace activist, writer and member of Christian Peacemaker Teams. Based in Toronto, he has served on violence-reduction teams in Iraq, Palestine and First Nations communities in Canada. In November 2005, he was kidnapped along with the CPT delegation he was leading and held hostage for four months. One member of the group was murdered, an American named Tom Fox. The surviving three were released in a military operation led by British special forces.

Of note: in searching through the Iraq War Logs, I couldn't find a record of the kidnapping. However, one reader did find a SIGACT report for the discovery of a body on March 9, 2006, which is believed to be that of Tom Fox (a post on the SIGACT reports can be found here).


Related Posts

Books - Iraq Hostages
July 9, 2010

Reading Room

What follows is a list of publicly available manuals, instructions, regulations, laws and policies applicable to overseas Americans who go missing while working under contract for US government agencies. If links go bad, use a search engine like google to find updated information about the publication you seek.

Legal Reference Material

The laws that govern missing persons, hostage affairs, etc.

National Security Act of 1947 
Establishes intelligence community support for missing persons. See Section 117 POW/MIA Analytic Capability. Also see 50 USC § 404L: United States Code, Title 50 - War and National Defense, Chapter 15 - National Security, Subchapter I - Coordination for National Security, 404L - POW Analytic Capability. The National Security Act of 1947 was last amended in 2007 by Public Law 110-53.

U.S. Code Title 10 § 1513
Legal definition of a missing person. United States Code, Title 10 - Armed Forces, Subtitle A - General Military Law, Part II - Personnel, Chapter 76 - Missing Persons.

Missing Persons Act
10 USC § 1501 - 1513 (A) policy, control, and oversight within the Department of Defense of the entire process for investigation and recovery related to missing persons (including matters related to search, rescue, escape, and evasion); and (B) coordination for the Department of Defense with other departments and agencies of the United States on all matters concerning missing persons.

Presumed Death under the Missing Persons Act
States laws govern how presumption of death is determined for a missing person. This is a critical phase in getting benefits in a prompt manner to surviving family members. Sample law for Rhode Island.

Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel (DPMO)
Provides policy oversight for the mission to recover captured, missing, or isolated personnel, usually military.

Workers Compensation for Overseas Workers

Information on the survivors benefits, including eligibility, etc. Benefits are administered by the Department of Labor.

Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (LHWCA)
LHWCA forms the basis for workers compensation for overseas workers.

Defense Base Act (DBA) also known as 42 USC § 1651

Defense Base Act extends LHWCA protections to overseas workers employed under contract to US government agencies. Benefits are payable if a casualty is not the result of hostile force(s). 

Workers Compensation Clauses for Overseas Performance (PDF)
Article on the application of FAR 52.228-3 and FAR 52.228-4 contract clauses.

War Hazards Compensation Act (WHCA) also known as 42 USC § 1701
Coverage under WHCA is automatically extended to anyone who has DBA. Benefits are payable if a casualty is the result of hostile force(s).

Regulations under WHCA - Employees Benefits
Title 20 Part 61- Claims for Compensation under the War Hazards Compensation Act, as Amended

Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA)
WHCA benefits are paid directly from the FECA fund

Regulations under FECA
Title 20 Part 10 - Claims for Compensation under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, as Amended

Dept of Labor DBA LHWCA page

Dept of Labor Compliance Page - FECA WHCA

Reports, Policies, and Manuals


General information and resources.

From the US Department of State:

Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM)

3 FAM 4100 Foreign Affairs Manual
US State Department Employee Responsibility and Conduct
Including 'Guidelines for Personnel Taken Hostage'

7 FAM 000 Foreign Affairs Manual
Consular Protection of US Nationals Abroad

From the US Department of Defense:

Defense Contingency Contracting Handbook

DA PAM 715–16
Contractor Deployment Guide. Procedures for contractor operations within the Department of the Army. Chapters 10 & 11 cover a variety of issues for hostages, including identification, aid, rights, etc. Department of the Army, February 27, 1998

AR 715-9
Contractors Accompanying the Force, November 29, 1999

Field Manual FM 3-100.21 (formerly FM 100-10-2)
Contractors on the Battlefield, Department of the Army, January 3, 2003. General overview of responsibilities includes brief passages and references on Personnel Recovery, Next of Kin Notification, etc.

Army Publishing Directorate
Everything you ever wanted to read in PDF format from the US Army but can't get access to without a password and login. Great way to double check titles and numbers. Also see:

Department of the Army Official Publishing sites
Lists other websites to find publications - alas, some with secure logins

Army Knowledge Online (AKO)
All Departmental Publications and Forms, including distribution-restricted Items

Army Home Page (AHP)
All Unrestricted Departmental Publications and Forms

U.S. Army Publishing Directorate (APD)
Administrative Departmental Publications and Forms (ARs, CIRs, PAMs, OFs, SFs, DD and DA Forms)

U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) Logistics Support Activity
Technical and Equipment Publications(TMs, TBs and SCs)

U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
Training and Doctrinal Publications (FMs, PBs, TCs and STPs)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Training & Doctrinal, Technical & Equipment Publications with Engineering & Design Criteria (TMs and FMs)

The Surgeon General/Medical Command
Training & Doctrinal, Technical & Equipment Publications with Medical Content (TMs, FMs, and SB 8-75 Series Publications)

Department of Defense Forms
Just what it sounds like. Standard forms galore. See DD Form 1833 Isolated Personnel Report (ISOPREP)

Standard Forms and Casualty Reporting

Everything starts with a standardized form for information.

SIGACT
Significant Activity reports are typically the very first incident report generated in the field.

SPOT
Synchronized Predeployment and Operational Tracker (SPOT). Registration for contractors working overseas.

DCIPS
Defense Casualty Information Processing System. Electronic reporting system used to report and track casualties.

AF CARES
Armed Forces Casualty Assistance Readiness Enhancement System, March 2007. Electronic system for tracking the progress of a casualty through the system. General order of flow: Initial Contact - Initial Visit - Interment - Disposition of Benefits - Disposition of Personal Effects - Disposition of Investigative Reports - Case After Action Report

Form DS-2060
Report of the Death of an American Citizen Abroad

Casualty Matters

AI Part 52.2 01  (DOC)
Basic form to provide to the Contracting Officer for reporting a hostage. See Part 52, page 31, Hostage Reporting instruction, Joint Contracting Command,  May 2007

AR 15-6 (PDF)
Commanders responsibilities in initiating an investigation of a casualty. Procedures for Investigating Officers and Boards of Officers, Department of the Army, October 2, 2006

AR 600-8-1 Army Casualty Program
Chapter 13 - Procedures for Casualties Involving Missing Persons (Non-Hostile and Hostile)

FM-27-1
Legal Guide for Commanders including authority for an AR-15 investigation

DODI 1300.18 Casualty Matters, Policies
Personnel Casualty Matters, Policies, and Procedures

DODD 1300.22
Mortuary Affairs, November 21, 2003 Disposition of remains, personal effects, etc.

DODD 2310.2
General policy for Personnel Recovery, Department of Defense, December 22, 2000

DODI 2310.4
Repatriation of Prisoners of War, Hostages, Peacetime Government Detainees and Other Missing or Isolated Personnel

DODI 2310.05 Missing Persons
Accounting for Missing Persons – Boards of Inquiry, Department of Defense, March 14, 2008

DODI 3001.03
Responsibility for disposition of human remains. Accounting for Personnel Lost in Past Conflicts – The Armed Forces Identification Review Board (AFIRB), March 14, 2008

Annual Reports of Missing Persons

Military Casualty and Loss

DOS Country Reports on Terrorism
Annual reports on terrorism incidents (includes kidnappings) of American citizens, listed by year since 2000. Country Reports on Terrorism, US Department of State

NCTC Reports on Terrorism
Annual reports of incidents. National Counterterrorism Center

WITS

Searchable database of worlwide terrorism incidents. Search kidnapping. Worldwide Incidents Tracking System, National Counterterrorism Center

Abbreviations

AI Acquisition Instruction 

AR Army Regulation

DODI Department of Defense Instruction

DODD Department of Defense Directive

FAM Foreign Affairs Manual (State Department)

FM Field Manual

AP Article on Missing Americans

New article on American hostages and missing persons in Iraq. It more or less centers around Sgt Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, missing since October 23, 2006.

Unfortunately, there's no formal list of the missing to accompany the article. And based on information within the article, it's reported the U.S. State Department is taking over outstanding cases. Pardon my cynicism but that sounds like a bureaucratic black hole to me - a polite way to tell families, "We're doing everything we can," while accomplishing absolutely nothing.

Search goes on for missing Americans in Iraq
By Kim Gamel, Rebecca Santana, Associated Press, Marine Corps Times, January 21, 2011

The search effort is now in the hands of the military's Personnel Recovery Division, a group of 20 people overseen by Col. Michael Infanti of Stafford, Va.

Infanti was the battalion commander in charge of the search for three U.S. soldiers who went missing after their unit was ambushed south of Baghdad in May 2007. Their remains were found more than a year later, after Infanti and other soldiers, who had spent months combing through the canal-lined terrain, had returned to the U.S.

Besides al-Taie, the Personnel Recovery Division is also looking for seven other Americans, four South Africans and a British man.

The military said it is developing a plan to transfer the cases concerning American citizens to the U.S. State Department, which has promised to maintain a strong diplomatic presence after the troops leave. The other cases will be turned over to their respective countries. more...

The article notes that the SIGACT report for the abduction of Jeffrey Ake can be found in the Iraq War Logs at WikiLeaks - as far as I know, this article is the first from a mainstream news organization to report on the SIGACT reports for Americans missing in Iraq. Call it progress.

According to my own records and assuming Major Troy Lee Gilbert is included, a minimum of 8 to as many as 18 or more Americans still remain missing today.

Update

Washington Post carries the same article but it contains some additional information. In particular, this passage:

Search goes on for missing Americans in Iraq
By Kim Gamel, Associated Press, Washington Post, January 22, 2011

U.S. Air Force Maj. Jimmy Smith, the [Personnel Recovery Division]'s deputy director, said nine American abductees, including three who were still alive, have been recovered in Iraq since 2004.

I'm feeling a little frustrated. Where are the Personnel Recovery Division getting their figures? At least 42 Americans have been abducted in Iraq. Of those, 1 escaped and 5 were released alive; remains of 18 deceased have been recovered; 8 are missing; status of the remaining 10 is unknown.

See the chart in the post linked below.

Additional Reading

SIGACT Reports of Americans Missing in Iraq (includes chart of the missing)
December 17, 2010

Books - Iraq Hostages

By no means definitive, this is a list of books available in English of accounts of hostages held in Iraq. At this time, I have not included Rick Bragg's book, I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story. It didn't quite seem to fit.

This list will be updated as new material appears.

Escape In Iraq: The Thomas Hamill Story
By Thomas Hamill, Paul T. Brown, and Jay Langston, Stoeger Publishing Company, October 31, 2004
ISBN-13: 978-0883173145

Hostage: The Jill Carroll Story (Audio Book)
By Jill Carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, September 1, 2006

Friendly Fire: The Remarkable Story of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq, Rescued by an Italian Secret Service Agent, and Shot by U.S. Forces
By Giuliana Sgrena and Amy Goodman, Haymarket Books, October 1, 2006
ISBN-13: 978-1931859394

The Business of War: Workers, Warriors And Hostages in Occupied Iraq
By James A. Tyner, Ashgate Publishing, November 2006
ISBN-13: 978-0754647911

Hostage in Iraq
By Norman F. Kember, Lorimer Publisher, October 31, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-1550289992

American Hostage: A Memoir of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq and the Remarkable Battle to Win His Release
By Micah Garen and Marie-Helene Carleton, Simon & Schuster, November 9, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-1416586319

118 Days: Christian Peacemaker Teams Held Hostage in Iraq
By Tricia Gates Brown, DreamSeeker Books of Cascadia Publishing House, February 15, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1931038614

Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq
By Steve Fainaru, Da Capo Press, October 13, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0306818387

Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping, Captivity, and a Dramatic Rescue
By Roy Hallums, Thomas Nelson Publishers, January 12, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1595551702

Captivity
118 Days in Iraq and the Struggle for a World Without War
By James Loney, Knopf Canada, April 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-39927-4 (0-307-39927-3)

Reading

Iraq hostage Peter Moore arrives back in UK
BBC January 1, 2010

Iraq hostage Peter Moore is now home in the United Kingdom. Still no word on the last missing security guard, Alan McMenemy, 34, from Glasgow, Scotland who was also kidnapped at the time with Moore.

Three-part series from the Salt Lake Tribune on the open air Burn Pits operating at US bases in Iraq.

The satellite image to the left shows the burn pit at Anaconda (now known as Joint Base Balad) in October 2009. It is from Google maps - see the link in the right hand side bar.

According to the Army Times, in 2008, 'Balad’s average daily output of almost 250 tons of waste is three times higher than the average of 83 tons per day generated by the city of Juneau, Alaska, which has a comparable population [of 25,000].'

One of the theories I've put forth is that Kirk von Ackermann was killed on a US base and his body disposed of in a burn pit. The most likely candidate is Camp Anaconda near where Ryan Manelick was killed just two months later. As far as I know, investigations have never pursued the theory.

Part I: Government waits for proof - sometimes for decades - before caring for sick veterans
By Matthew D. LaPlante, The Salt Lake Tribun, January 15, 2010

The VA requires former service members to prove an illness was caused by military service.

Part II: Vets: Burn pits are killing us
By Matthew D. LaPlante, The Salt Lake Tribune, January 15, 2010

Sickened warriors searching for help will have to wait for science and government bureaucracy to link their conditions to their service.

Part III: Vets say toxic tests sickened them; government says prove it
By Matthew D. LaPlante, The Salt Lake Tribune, January 15, 2010

Army says it used 'voluntary human subjects,' but ill man says 'I was private first class, I did anything they told me to do.'

Also see:

Burn pit at Balad raises health concerns
By Kelly Kennedy, Army Times, October 29, 2008

Troops say chemicals and medical waste burned at base are making them sick, but officials deny risk.

Roy Hallums Memoir

Cordova man tells of 2004 kidnapping in new book
By Bartholomew Sullivan, The Commercial Appeal, November 16, 2009

Roy A. Hallums, an American contractor held hostage for 311 days in Iraq, has written a memoir, Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping, Captivity and a Dramatic Rescue. The book is due for release in January of 2010.

Hallums was rescued by the US military on September 7, 2005.

Websites of interest

A few websites for anyone interested on learning more about some of the common issues surrounding Iraq and American contractors and troops who served there. (Defense Base Act benefits, health and safety issues, etc). I'll be adding them to the side bar.

Ms Sparky's Mishaps & Misadventures

Host is Ms Sparky, an electrician who worked for KBR in Iraq from 2004-2007. 

American Contractors in Iraq

Host is Jana Crowder, wife of a former KBR driver who worked in Iraq. My understanding is the site grew out of a discussion board for contractors families.

Patriot Missive

Hosts are two former soldiers, Ms. Missive who served in Iraq in 2005 and Skitz M. Jones, medic in Balad, Iraq from 2005-2006. 

White Rose's Adventures

Host is Cindy Morgan, a former KBR truck driver who spent two years in Iraq. Morgan wrote a book about her experiences, "Cindy In Iraq."

DBA Comp

Host is the wife of a former Iraq contractor who returned from Iraq with severe health issues.

Iraq Slogger

News out of Iraq.

Book - Big Boy Rules by Steve Fainaru

One of the central figures in a new non-fiction book written by Washington Post reporter Steve Fainaru is Jonathan Cote. 

Cote, who worked for Crescent Security in Iraq, was kidnapped with four of his colleagues on November 16, 2006. He was 23-years old at the time of his kidnapping. In April 2008, Cote's remains were recovered and identified. Fainaru would later discover from autopsy reports that Cote was beheaded. 

The book is up close and personal. Fainaru travelled to Iraq and rode security missions with Cote just days before the kidnappings. From what I've read about the book - Fainaru doesn't hold back.

Big Boy Rules - America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq
By Steve Fainaru
Da Capo Press
November 2008

Synopsis from the publisher:

"Washington Post" reporter Steve Fainaru traveled with several groups of security contractors to find out what motivates them to put their lives in danger every day. What emerges is a searing, revealing, and sometimes darkly funny look at the men who live and work on the battlefields of Iraq.

Additional Reading

Detailed new book offers deep drama of Cote saga
By Dan Herbeck, The Buffalo News, October 29, 2008

Excerpt: Fainaru is convinced that the bodies of the abducted men would never have been found if Cote’s stepmother, Nancy M. Cote, was not a prominent federal agent who headed the Buffalo office of the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration. After more than a year of fruitless efforts by the FBI, a DEA agent in Iraq got the information that led to the recoveries.

Cote’s spirit rules pages of new book
By Donn Esmonde, The Buffalo News, November 16, 2008

The Curse of the Al Dulaimi Hotel - Pt III

This is a reprint of my original book review first posted at ePluribus Media.

Susie Dow reviews Curse of the Al Dulaimi Hotel: and other half-truths from Baghdad by Colin Freeman, now the Chief Foreign Correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph. Landing in Baghdad on May 1, 2003 as an independent journalist, Freeman's new novel reveals the story behind getting the story including the hilarious antics of his charmingly insane personal assistant, Mohammed Kadom.

August 22nd at 5.01pm. 'Colin, hello, I am Mohammed. When are you coming back?'

August 29th at 2.45pm. 'Colin, hello, I am Mohammed. Man, I have no money and needing the job most desperately. Please ring Jean-Phillipe speedily.'

September 5th at 5.25pm. 'OK, COLIN, FUCK YOU! YOU ARE MY FRIEND BUT YOU DON'T EVEN RING BACK TO ME. FUCK YOU! I WILL FIND THE NEW JOB BY MYSELVES.'

I wish I could figure out a clever way to convey to you how much fun it was to read The Curse of Al Dulaimi Hotel. I realize that's not a politically correct introduction - after all it's a non-fiction book set in Baghdad circa 2003 through 2005, people are fighting and dying and there's more than one war going on. That's not funny. But I'd be lying if I didn't just come right out and tell you the book is filled with hilarious anecdotes, many so much stranger than fiction, that they must be true and therefore are even funnier as a result. While the humor doesn't qualify as gallows, it is dark. And there were times I definitely felt like I'd accidentally stumbled into the wrong bar at the wrong moment.

'When I drove to the hotel today I saw this beautiful chick, with the huge tits and the ass,' he announced one morning, as I sat with two other foreign journalists. 'I got very erect!'

I stared at him, aghast. Had he really just said what I thought he'd said?

'Er, what do you mean, Mohammed?'

'Erect! You know. Like this!' He pointed to his groin area. The assembled company probably thought Mohammed and I regularly compared erections together.

'Er, Mohammed, I don't think that's really the right word. If a girl, er, makes you feel sexy, you say she turns you on. As in, to turn on a generator.'

'Ok, good. So, anyways, this chick turns me on like a generator...'

Author Colin Freeman holds the honor of being the last Western war correspondent to enter Iraq. His career as a war correspondent, however, was extremely short lived. Just hours after Freeman crossed the border, President George W. Bush announced the end of major hostilities.

Having ditched a steady job writing about road works at the London Evening Standard for the glamor of working in war torn Baghdad, Freeman spends the next two years writing about...roads. Stuck on roads. Driving on roads. Lost on roads. Intended or not, roads are a central theme through out the book. (Well, that and the bad whiskey.) No city today is complete without its noise and traffic. But add some desert heat, grime, guns, bad tempers, looters in stolen buses, car bombs, road side bombs, Humvees, more guns, kidnappers and journalists and it's Baghdad. A city in a country suddenly trying to find its way on its own after thirty years of being told what to do.

We plunged down the wrong way onto a dual carriageway, the cab swerving in and out of oncoming players like a rugby scrum-half heading for the tryline.

'Tell me Haider, why is it that people drive the wrong way down the road here?'

'These Iraqi drivers,' he said as if no further explanation was necessary.

'Yes, but why? Isn't it dangerous, yes?' I pointed at the cars hurtling past us on either side and grimaced and whistled.

Conversation with Haider, I realised, was going to be like playing charades. With a bit of gesturing, persistence and intelligent guesswork, the two of us could sometimes reach a breakthrough.

'Ah, we call this driving "wrong side." Same as in English. Is from Saddam time. The cars of all the big government people would drive down the wrong side, making common people get out of the way. Now everybody is free, so they want to try this themselves.'

I first became aware of Colin Freeman's work on the evening of November 9, 2003 while researching Iraq reconstruction contracts. There was an article in the UK Telegraph about a missing American contractor by the name of Kirk von Ackermann who worked for Ultra Services out of Istanbul, Turkey. The company provided logistics to the US Army. Von Ackermann disappeared the month before, his vehicle found abandoned on a road between Tikrit and Kirkuk. Colin Freeman broke the story. His primary source at the time was another Ultra Services employee, Ryan Manelick. Two months later, Manelick was killed in a drive by shooting just after leaving a meeting at a base near Balad. Shortly before he was killed, Manelick had alleged von Ackermann's disappearance was connected to fraud and that it involved US Army officers. Colin Freeman broke that story as well.

Ultra Services weaves in and out of The Curse of al Dulaimi Hotel, appearing as early as page 26 with the introduction of one of the company principals, John Dawkins. Freeman shared his first ride into Iraq with Dawkins and another colleague, Omar. Freeman also spent his first night at the same hotel in Baghdad as Dawkins, the Al Majalis, eventually settling in as a regular.

Before I give the wrong impression that The Curse of al Dulaimi Hotel is all about Ultra Services or kidnappings and murders - which in part it is because it's also about Iraq - let me more properly introduce you to one of the stars of the book, former Staff Colonel Mohammed Kadom. The Colonel is Colin Freeman's first 'fixer' in Baghdad.

To get around, an English speaking journalist needs someone to handle logistics, translation, security, some driving and a little bit of haggling - in short, a 'fixer.' A former Iraqi officer and Ba'ath party member, the Colonel looked like Burt Reynolds circa 1980 and liked to listen to the Bee Gees.

What made it all infinitely more bearable was having Mohammed around. I was now the envy of other journalists. Very few had a translator who was simultaneously fluent, hardworking, streetwise and good company. Occasionally other reporters even tried to poach him off with offers of better money. Touchingly, he always told them his first loyalty was to Mr. Colin, the man who'd first given him a job when he'd been cruising the streets as a cabbie. Actually, it turned out he hadn't really been doing that. Over a beer one night he confessed that he'd actually been selling guns at the time. The day he picked me up, he'd had a stash of Kalashnikovs in the back of the Nissan.

In need of the promise of a steady paycheck, the Colonel eventually went to work for Ryan Manelick, also securing jobs at the company for his brothers.

I don't want to give too much away or it will ruin the joy of discovery. Suffice it to say, there's some thing for every one in The Curse of al Dulaimi Hotel. News junkies will get high from the constant buzz of deja vu as people, places, and events pop off the pages. The deja vu is in itself a strange sensation: an undercurrent of invisible context that readers 50 years from now just won't be able to fully appreciate. Car bombings - you saw the images on the news played over and over again - Freeman heard and sometimes felt the blast. The Palestine Hotel. Fallujah. Basra. Tikrit. James Brandon. Georges Malbrunot and Jill Caroll - both neighbors in the same hotel. (Carroll plays darts.)

For the armchair traveler, an upfront and personal introduction to hotel rooms, a brothel or two, and bathroom facilities you'll never ever have to confront in person. Just the description of some of the rooms made me itchy. There's not too much about food. Freeman spares us the tell tale signs of gas pains before the arrival of diarrhea (Thank you, Colin) but only just barely. For the armchair adventurer, there's no shortage of danger, complete with a detailed description of what it feels like to be shot in the arse.

My only complaint, if I had one, is I wish I could have heard the stories in person over a pint.

The Curse of the Al Dulaimi Hotel: and other half-truths from Baghdad
By Colin Freeman
Monday Books, July 2008
ISBN-10: 1906308020
ISBN-13: 978-1906308025
272 pages

Colin Freeman is now the Chief Foreign Correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph in London.

Curse of the al Dulaimi Hotel - Pt II

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It's hilarious. Colin Freeman's former 'fixer,' Mohammed Kadom, should star in his own reality television series. There's a book review at ePluribus Media for those who might be interested.

A few pieces of information came to light in the book. Most notable, I was unaware that Charles Phillips was in Baghdad the week after Kirk von Ackermann disappeared. As close friends, it's surprising he didn't take more of an interest in securing von Ackermann's personal effects. After all, Phillips brought von Ackermann to Iraq. I realize work doesn't come to a stand still. But at the same time, no one collected his belongings in an orderly manner? It's not clear how long Phillips had been in Iraq.

So, new question: when did Charles Phillips first arrive in country?

Colin Freeman describes visiting the spot where Kirk von Ackermann's vehicle was found on the road between Tikrit and Kirkuk. This is the only first hand description in the public domain that I am aware of.

Excerpt from page 136:

A few days later, I drove with Saba and Ali up to the area where Kirk had disappeared, to ask a few questions. I'd heard that a local Iraqi police chief was on the case; perhaps he might spill some details that Ryan and Co were keeping quiet. It turned out he'd recently been sacked after some row with a rival, with none of his successors briefed about the disappearance. Later on, though, when I tracked him down to his house, I found him still in uniform with a dozen odd policemen at his disposal, running what seemed to be some kind of parallel force. He claimed to know John Dawkins, and said he had turned up not long before with photocopied pictures of Kirk, asking if anyone had seen him. He directed us to the spot where Kirk had vanished. It was near the brow of a long, winding hilltop road, miles from anywhere and surrounded by rocky outcrops. A long way from any help if you got yourself in a tight spot. At the bottom of the other side of the hill, there was a US Army checkpoint, where Dawkins had handed over a copy of Kirk's photograph. But during troop changeovers, no information was passed on about the case. The newcomers were unaware of who Kirk was, or why they had his photo. In a land where hundreds were dying or disappearing each week, no one had resources to spend time looking for another missing person.

Here's an uncomfortable question: was the check point visible from the very top of the hill?

Additional Reading

Review of The Curse of the al Dulaimi Hotel
By Susie Dow, ePluribus Media, August 18, 2008

Description: Landing in Baghdad on May 1, 2003 as an independent journalist, Colin Freeman's new book reveals the story behind getting the story including the hilarious antics of his charmingly insane personal assistant, Mohammed Kadom. Colin Freeman is now the Chief Foreign Correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph.

Curse of the al Dulaimi Hotel - Pt I (image)
August 4, 2008

Curse of the al Dulaimi Hotel - Pt I

Colin Freeman, the journalist who first broke the story of Kirk von Ackermann and Ryan Manelick, has a new book out on his experiences in Iraq. I understand it includes a section on their story.

Curse of the Al Dulaimi Hotel: And Other Half-truths from Baghdad
By Colin Freeman
Monday Books
July 2008

Publishers description:

Colin Freeman is a burnt-out newspaper hack, wasting his life hanging around outside the houses of minor celebrities. His job is soul-destroyingly pointless and his personal life isn't much better. His girlfriend wants commitment he can't give and the future looks bleak. So he jacks it all in and goes to Iraq – as Britain's most amateur war correspondent. Shacked up in a filthy $5 a night hotel, he finds a city – and a country – in turmoil. Half the people he meets are mad, drunk or fanatical (and armed to the teeth) and the other half are trying to rebuild their lives after George Bush's invasion. Against the odds, Freeman finds his feet as a reporter and reveals a slice of Iraq unlike any other and gets shot in the backside for his troubles.

Additional Reading

Mystery surrounds US businessman missing in Iraq's 'Sunni triangle'
by Colin Freeman, Telegraph, November 9, 2003

Bay Area civilian vanishes in Iraq
by Colin Freeman, San Francisco Chronicle, November 11, 2003

Suspicion surrounds missing Bay Area man
by Colin Freeman, San Francisco Chronicle, February 13, 2005

Could U.S. Military Mechanics Hold the Keys to Finding Missing Contractor?

I have a new article coming out at ePluribus Media based loosely on The Bridge Theory. I'll post the link as soon as it's available today.



Could U.S. Military Mechanics Hold the Keys to Finding Missing Contractor?
by Susie Dow, ePluribus Media, April 20, 2008

On October 9, 2003, civilian contractor Kirk von Ackermann left a meeting at FOB Pacesetter near Balad, Iraq. His vehicle was found later that day abandoned in the Jabal Hamrin mountains, roughly 140 miles away with no sign of struggle and $40,000 in cash on the backseat.

ePluribus Media researcher and editor Susie Dow strings together the events of the last day of Kirk von Ackermann's known existence on earth.

And things just don't add up.

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.

Death of a Contractor

Keep an eye out for the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine which features a new article by Daniel Halpern about Ultra Services. I understand the article centers around Ryan Manelick. Below is a photo of the online cover for February 21, 2007 but I haven't yet located the dead tree version on local news stands.



Update: The article is available online. Try to pick up the print version as it includes photos.
Death of a Contractor: Greed and Murder in Iraq's Lawless Desert (link expired) by Dan Halpern

Use this link:
Death of a Contractor - alternate link

Obituary for Kirk von Ackermann

Obituary
The Albuquerque Journal
January 14, 2007

VON ACKERMANN -- Kirk von Ackermann was killed October 9, 2003 while acting as a contractor in Iraq. Kirk served his country with distinction, first as a Russian linguist in the army, then as an intelligence officer in the air force. He earned numerous awards including Army, Air Force, and joint service commendation medals. Kirk was passionate about his family and devoted to them and to his many friends. He pursued many activities, and taught his children his personal philosophy: live life, don't watch it.

More...

Von Ackermann in AP Article

Two brief mentions of Kirk von Ackermann in a series from the AP on the kidnapping of Roy Hallums in Iraq. The article refers to and quotes Dan Shea, formerly of the Hostage Working Group of the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Important detail: this article includes the first known mention that the Hostage Working Group was actively looking into von Ackermann's disappearance. An Editor's Note on one version (oddly enough, it's titled Missing in Iraq), states the following:

This story is based on hours of interviews with Roy Hallums, Susan Hallums and Dan O'Shea, and their recollections of Roy Hallums' kidnapping in Iraq.

Excerpts below.

Family's nightmare begins at gunpoint Part 1
By Deborah Hastings, AP, Salt Lake Tribune, December 24, 2006, 01:20:45 AM MST

Dan O'Shea had more to worry about than the abduction of Roy Hallums. There was Kirk von Ackermann, an American contractor who went missing near Tikrit on Oct. 9, 2003. There was Timothy Bell, a Halliburton employee who disappeared on April 9, 2004.

Hallums was another soul added to the list. At the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, O'Shea worked in secret. The Hostage Working Group, started by the State Department in 2004 to deal with the rash of Iraqi kidnappings, was made up of FBI and CIA agents, hostage negotiators, counterintelligence operators, military analysts and special forces.

They numbered about 30 in all, working telephones and back channels, talking with local imams, police, messaging back and forth with Washington and military intelligence officials of all types.

Kidnapped Americans in Iraq
By Deborah Hastings, AP, Salt Lake Tribune, December 24, 2006, 03:10:26 AM MST

MISSING

Kirk von Ackermann, 37, of Moss Beach, Calif., vanished Oct. 9, 2003. He was driving alone between Tikrit and Kirkuk. His car was found abandoned.

Clarification for readers: As of August of 2006, Von Ackermann is no longer considered missing but is believed to have been killed on the day he disappeared.

Part 2 of the above series can be found here:

Rescuing Roy - Tip leads to rescue in Iraq Part 2
By Deborah Hastings, AP, North County Times, December 24, 2006

Light Reading

Clad only in seaweed, Ultra Services' John Dawkins makes an appearance in Honeymoon With My Brother by Franz Wisner.

It's really more of a summer time kind of read but might also make a good choice for waiting areas during holiday travels.

USA Today Article - side bar

side bar

There seems to be alot more attention from the press to those still missing in Iraq since the kidnapping and later discovery of the bodies of U.S. Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker. Details in the article on what happened to the two men are really gruesome. I've decided not to recount those details here.

Military releases new details about killing, recovery of kidnapped soldiers
From the Associated Press, USA Today, June 27, 2006

In a statement that provided additional details of the killings, the military said the bodies of U.S. Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston and Pfc. Thomas Tucker of Madras were found at 7:50 p.m. on June 19 not far from where they were abducted when insurgents attacked their checkpoint.

The military said it waited until the next morning to recover the bodies because an Iraqi in the area had warned that the area was booby-trapped.

More...

Kirk von Ackermann is listed with Timothy Bell, Aban Elias, Sadeq Mohammed Sadeq, and Jeffrey Ake in a side bar to the above article titled Americans Still Missing.

Kirk von Ackermann, 37, contractor from Moss Beach, Calif., disappeared Oct. 9, 2003, while driving alone between Tikrit and Kirkuk; kidnapping suspected.

Earlier articles on the fate of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker also included the same side bar.

Military: Missing soldiers found dead
By Cesar G. Soriano, USA Today, June 20, 2006

Soldiers' bodies recovered
by Kim Gamel, AP, June 21, 2006

Rules usually protect GIs from capture
by Ryan Lenz, AP, June 21, 2006