On blogging & secrecy

Over the years, a wide range of people of diverse backgrounds have been gracious enough to write to me. It's rather stunning really. I'm extremely grateful that they were willing to share their knowledge and experience with me.

Some correspondents I have had the pleasure to meet in person. Such meetings allow greater discussion and frankly, the ability to discuss things that just can't be put in writing for a variety of reasons. Reasons such as privacy, national security issues, classified information, possible slander or libel, and just protecting sources because they don't want to be identified. There's some information I still sit on years after the fact just because I feel it would unnecessarily hurt some folks feelings. I'm a bit of a softee that way.

I'll give an example.

I know who hijacked the domain registration for John Dawkins company mesopotamiagroup.com and I know why the person(s) did it. Here's the thing. The actual hijacking - who did it and why - is not important. But what is important is what the hijacking tells us about the interpersonal dynamics behind the scenes at Dawkins' predecessor logistics company, Ultra Services. Those interpersonal dynamics are vitally important to understanding the various parties different motivations. It is my own belief that understanding these motivations is the key to unlock the mystery of what happened to Kirk von Ackermann and Ryan Manelick back in 2003.

So there's one minor secret that I don't feel I can reveal in public.

There are at minimum two more secrets that I would like to reveal but can't for the various reasons listed above. I trust the different sources and have no reason to doubt the veracity of the information. Assuming it's true, it should take investigators less than 2 weeks to solve both the disappearance of Kirk von Ackermann and the murder of his colleague, Ryan Manelick. It is my understanding that investigators have access to the same information that I do but bias and a predisposition to a presumption of guilt has slightly derailed their case. One of these days a fresh set of eyes will pick up the cold case files from CID and set things back on course.

Meanwhile, bit by bit, it does seem that secrets eventually out themselves. A recent outing, of course, being the name of the counter terrorism group that Kirk von Ackermann was a member of - DO5 or the Asymmetric Threat Division.

So that's one down with more still to come. It's just a matter of time.

Hopefully, I'll still be around to link to the final story and write the closing post for this blog.

Infrared Video

Army to take new look at friendly fire death
By Joe Gould, Army Times, March 20, 2011

The Army is reinvestigating the 2008 friendly fire death of a 101st Airborne soldier whose team leader shot him and left him to die on the battlefield in Iraq, according to prior inquiries.

The Army has notified David H. Sharrett, the father of Pfc. David Sharrett, 27, that it has launched a new and broader investigation.

An earlier probe found that the team leader, then-1st Lt. Timothy Hanson, left the battlefield on a helicopter while two of his soldiers were unaccounted for. Hanson subsequently received a temporary reprimand, was promoted to captain, and is now in the Reserve.

Sharrett, a former English teacher, has aggressively pressed the Army for information on his son’s death. He said he wants this inquiry, the Army’s third, to provide truth and accountability.

But of particular interest to this blog is this:

For years, Sharrett has met with his son’s colleagues and superiors, investigators and other general officers in an effort to wrangle information about how his son died.

“I’m convinced that decisions were made early on that this is not going above any kind of level,” Sharrett said. “They were not counting on anyone being aggressive in pursuing what the truth was.”

Sharrett said he was eventually able to view gun-sight video from an Apache helicopter that provided a chilling infrared view of the battlefield.

“You can see Hanson getting on the helicopter, you can see [my son] up on the wide screen, he’s struggling, and in the same frame, [the team leader is] leaving,” Sharrett said. “That’s where it really, really got to me.”

A lot of information was collected by the military in Iraq. Somewhere, there's footage and audio that's of direct relevance to the disappearance of Kirk von Ackermann and the murder of his colleague, Ryan Manelick. I guess the big question remains - why didn't investigators pursue those materials?

Evidence - physical and other

Thinking out loud about what, if any, physical evidence might still be available to investigators looking into the disappearance of Kirk von Ackermann and the murder of Ryan Manelick.

For what it's worth....

Aerial footage - recorded by any of the more than 500 unmanned aerial vehicles operating in Iraq in 2003

Base Access Records - showing entrance and exit to/from bases under US control in Iraq

Audio recordings - of satellite and cell phone calls, incoming and outgoing (from intercepts of the National Security Agency)

Inventory - review of Kirk von Ackermann's personal belongings - including his notebook as well as determining what was missing

Background check - of passing patrol and/or check point personnel who first arrived on the scene

Ultra Services communications - from the ultra-services.com web server including emails and records, also who had superuser access to server

Mechanics - interviews with area mechanics, especially at FOB Pacesetter and Camp Anaconda, to see if anyone remembers von Ackermann was seeking to get his tire fixed

Additional Reading

Army Regulation 195–5 (PDF)
Criminal Investigation
Evidence Procedures
Department of the Army
Washington, DC
June 25, 2007

Iraq Transition & Missing Americans in Iraq

U.S., Iraq closer to meeting deadlines
American Forces Press Service, June 24, 2009

The U.S.-Iraq security agreement that took effect this year calls for American combat troops to leave urban areas by the end of June, with all U.S. forces out of the country by the end of 2011.

What happens to the unsolved cases of Americans still missing in Iraq?

Kirk von Ackermann (2003)
Timothy E. Bell (2004)
Aban Elias (2004)
Dean Sadek (2004)
Jeffrey Ake (2005)
Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie (2006)
Capt. Scott Speicher (1991)

25 Fraud Investigations Underway

Some U.S. troops tempted by reconstruction cash
By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2009

The Justice Department has secured more than three dozen bribery-related convictions in the awarding of reconstruction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least 25 theft investigations are underway.

From the news article, it sounds like these investigations all involve funds issued under the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP). It is my understanding that Ultra Services supply contracts - totalling around $10-14 million - were paid with CERP funds. So it's possible someone might be looking into Ryan Manelick's case. But that's really just a guess on my part.

UPDATE:

Coincidentally, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight held a hearing yesterday titled, Improving the Ability of Inspectors General to Detect, Prevent, and Prosecute Contracting Fraud. Testimony was provided by Mr. Charles W. Beardall, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations, Department of Defense. His testimony, available in PDF, goes into a great amount of detail about coordination and collaboration of the different agencies and organizations involved in fraud investigations.

Statement of Charles W. Beardall PDF
Deputy Inspector General for Investigations
Department of Defense
before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight
on "Improving the Ability of Inspectors General to Detect, Prevent, and Prosecute Contract Fraud"
April 21, 2009

See Page 6:

To date, [Defense Criminal Investigative Service] DCIS has initiated 173 investigations relating to [Department of Defense] DoD operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of these investigations, 41 percent involve procurement fraud offenses; 42 percent involve corruption offenses; and 14 percent involve theft, technology protection, and terrorism.

Passing Patrol & the Checkpoint

Continuing my thoughts from the previous post...

A passing patrol is said to have reported Kirk von Ackermann's abandoned vehicle to a checkpoint minutes after a satellite call was placed asking for help with a flat tire. The call, believed to be from von Ackermann, was received by an Iraqi employee. The employee arrived 45 minutes later. Von Ackermann had vanished.

The critical question: how many minutes elapsed between the satellite call and the arrival of the passing patrol at the checkpoint - was it really only 5 minutes?


View Larger Map

North/East towards Kirkuk
Blue - checkpoint
Pink - abandoned vehicle
Yellow - nearest crossroad in the opposite direction of the checkpoint
South/West towards Tikrit

The journey in a military vehicle between Tikrit and Kirkuk - roughly 75 miles - was described in one news article as taking roughly 2.5 hours through the mountains. Simple math - 30 miles per hour. The distance between the checkpoint and the abandoned vehicle maps out to just over 1 mile - a 2 minute drive. The distance between the abandoned vehicle and the nearest road not in the direction of the check point, maps out to just over 1.5 miles - a 3 minute drive.

Assuming the passing patrol never stopped, super simple math says the passing patrol was only 1.5 miles behind von Acerkmann when (and if) he made the call. That places the patrol at the intersection of the nearest crossroad in the opposite direction and away from the checkpoint.

Maybe my math is a little off -- high school math was a very long time ago -- but doesn't this put the military patrol quite literally on top of von Ackermann's abductors on a narrow isolated country road? The only other option is that the kidnappers passed right through the checkpoint - and no one noticed. That's just not possible.

In the fall of 2003, US and Coalition forces were actively looking for Saddam Hussein in the Tikrit region. While it seems unlikely Hussein would have headed for Kirkuk (an area he was very unpopular in)...I find it even harder to believe American troops weren't taking fine tooth combs to every single vehicle coming from the Tikrit area.

From Point A to Point B

A passing patrol came upon Kirk von Ackermann's abandonned vehicle within a very short time of a satellite call for help to an Iraqi employee - in theory, it means the patrol was following von Ackermann for part of the route between Tikrit and Kirkuk. I keep wondering if there were points along the way that the two might have been visible to each other?

I'm also wondering...how much time did it take the passing patrol to drive from von Ackermann's vehicle to the check point? Did CID ever actually measure that distance and time exactly how long it took to drive from point A to point B?

Did CID ever attempt a re-enactment of the journey of the two vehicles?

Phone Taps

On the afternoon of October 9, 2003, an Iraqi employee named Safa Shukir received a call on his cell phone purportedly from Kirk von Ackermann. The caller said he had a flat tire, was stranded in the Jabal Hamrin, and asked Shukir to come get him and 'bring a jack.' Minutes later, a passing patrol reported an abandoned vehicle.

General assumption to date is von Ackermann placed the call. Maybe he didn't.

U.S. tapped intimate calls from Americans overseas, 2 eavesdroppers say
By Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times, October 9, 2008

U.S. intelligence analysts eavesdropped on personal calls between Americans overseas and their families back home and monitored the communications of workers with the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, according to two military linguists involved in U.S. surveillance programs. [...]

Kinne said the recordings she transcribed were mainly intercepted transmissions from satellite phones in the Middle East.

From Iraq, Kirk von Ackermann called his wife Megan who was in the U.S., on the afternoon of October 8, 2003. That call between Iraq and the U.S. should have triggered ongoing monitoring by the NSA of von Ackermann's satellite phone. Recordings taken during the time period of October 8-9th could answer the question: did someone pretend to be Kirk von Ackermann and use his satellite phone to call a young Iraqi employee for assistance?

My opinion? I think an impostor placed the call.

Related Post

Note to CID about NSA
April 21, 2008

The Bridge Theory
March 25, 2008

Note to CID - about the NSA

I do most of my thinking in the car as I spend a lot of time sitting in traffic. This morning, the car in front of me had a placard that said, 'Disaster Communications,' which got me to thinking. It was another one of those bingo! moments.

Many years ago, I worked on a $25 million project with some very prominent folks. (Yes, I could name drop, but I won't.) It was, for me, a tad intimidating. My responsibilities included attending large presentational meetings where I both asked and answered questions for my boss who had much more important things to attend to. I was the proverbial messenger and I was shot each week. Over and over again. And again. And once more for good measure.

One of the things I learned from that experience is that as a very small fish among obviously very big fish, I could raise really stupid questions. And more often than not, I got critical, often vital, answers that not only impacted my small department but every aspect of the entire project. I called them my 'stupid questions.'

So.

Here I am. And I am once again the small little fish with a stupid question for the very big fish at CID. (Really, I have a lot of these questions but I know better than to push my luck.)

National Security Agency

Some one recently mentioned the NSA to me. I'm a bit slow sometimes, but it just occurred to me that the NSA must have been monitoring the communications of those at Ultra Services because of the geographic zones each of the company principals communicated with. Just off the top of my head they were communicating to/from: USA. Europe. Middle East. Central Asia. Russia.

I made up a chart (below) to illustrate my point.

The key point here is that each communicant would have had contact to and from the Middle East and Central Asia and, in turn, to and from the US. It's the US part that matters, at least, that's my understanding, as communication into and out of the US to those regions would have been the trigger for NSA to monitor communication.



Imagine it's the fall of 2003.

Saddam Hussein, from the Tikrit area, has not been caught yet. Most of Ultra Services work is in the Sunni Triangle and the lead US Army contracting office is in Tikrit. Everyone still believes there is a connection between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. They're looking in Afghanistan and Pakistan and all over Iraq and, I imagine, the rest of the Middle East for both men in addition to their various underlings, etc.

Principals at Ultra Services

Now, let's look at each principal at Ultra Services:

John Dawkins - he's from California. So it's safe to assume he called or emailed home on occasion. Initially, he would have been in contact with his partners in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. His friend, Greg Manelick, is in the Russian Far East. Dawkins' last business was in Moscow, where he may have still been in contact with friends. The main office for Ultra Services is in Istanbul, Turkey so there's communication to and from Istanbul to Dawkins' satellite phone when he's in Iraq.

Charles Phillips - he lived in California, likely was in touch with family and friends in the US. Initially he was communicating with Kirk von Ackermann in California who hadn't yet joined the company. Increasingly, Phillips became the point of contact for the Stratex investors in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Phillips was primarily based in Istanbul but would have maintained contact with everyone in Iraq on a regular basis.

Ryan Manelick - he's living in Baghdad, Iraq. He has family, including children, in the US. His father, Greg, is in the Russian Far East. He's communicating with Ultra Services' main office in Istanbul, Turkey. At some point, he may have had contact with the Stratex investors in Central Asia.

Kirk von Ackermann - initially, he's communicating with Charles Phillips who is working out of the Istanbul office. Once von Ackermann arrives in Istanbul, he's calling home to his wife and children in California. He makes several trips in to Iraq, calling both his family in the US and the Ultra Services office in Istanbul.

In addition, all of the principals are communicating with each other. (And by communication I mean email, fax, satellite phone, etc)

In fact, it's almost impossible to believe NSA wouldn't have monitored Ultra Services communications given the geographic zones they were all communicating with. They were practically begging for electronic eavesdropping given the communication paths.

Little Fish, Big Question

So...CID...have you spoken with NSA to see if there are recordings of Ultra Services phone calls and emails?

In particular, have you asked if there is a recording of the call made from Kirk von Ackermann's satellite phone to Safa Shukir on the day he disappeared - October 9, 2003? Are there additional NSA recordings to compare to so as to confirm the voice is or is not Kirk von Ackermann? Is there additional recordings from that day that might help pinpoint the exact time and location Kirk von Ackermann was last heard from?

And if you haven't asked NSA yet, there's also that fateful call to Charles Phillips satellite phone moments before Ryan Manelick was killed on December 14, 2003.

Also, please do not overlook the company emails. I have long held the belief that the key to really understanding the interpersonal relationships of everyone involved was in the ultra-services.com email server. If NSA has those emails, you have hit the big bingo!

Like I said, stupid question. Well actually, more like 5 or 6 But I'm glad I've asked and gotten them off my chest.

Thoughts on Conspiracy

I just want to take a moment to expand on something I touched on in my last post, The Bridge Theory:

There are many out there -- honestly, I've lost count -- who wonder if the investigation was deliberately suppressed or sabotaged. Perhaps I'm just naive. I tend to lean towards a much simpler explanation: the difficulty and confusion of coordinating a kidnap and murder investigation in a war zone.

The person(s) responsible for the disappearance of Kirk von Ackermann and the murder of Ryan Manelick have the most to gain with any sort of interference or disruption to communications. Assuming the person(s) are not insurgents, it would not surprise me to learn that they monitor what they can of the investigation by any means available to those person(s). As a result, the possibility of malicious intent can not be ignored. After all, chances are good that if you have a sneaking suspicion someone is intercepting or monitoring your email, that yes, some one is intercepting or monitoring your email.

Not Alone

I think some of you would be quite surprised at the number of people who think there's something seriously funky surrounding everything.

Now regarding the investigation, do I believe CID deliberately dragged their feet? No. But I do get the feeling their resources are extremely limited. There are hundreds of thousands of men and women in the US military in addition to hundreds of thousands of civilian contractors.

Q. How many people are in CID?
A. CID is a worldwide command with fewer than 2000 Soldiers and civilians and approximately 900 special agents.

Advice, for what it's worth, just use some basic common sense. Share your information with trusted friends or colleagues, keep sensitive information off of shared networks, back up files to discs, print information and keep hard copies. Last but not least, always assume any email is archived and monitored as it passes through mail servers. If it's keeping you awake at at night, considering using an encryption product.

Additional Reading

Crime in the United States
Summary of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program
Department of Justice, FBI, 2004

TV Ads in Iraq

Army Produces Ads To Find Missing Service Members
Fox News, October 13, 2006

A public service announcement airing on television stations in Iraq asks people to call a hotline so they can help the families of missing people find their relatives including Army Staff Sergeant Matt Maupin.

...the ad aired 108 times in August...

The US Embassy in Iraq has previously reported 13 Americans are known to be missing. Of those, five are civilian contractors. It is unknown if recent efforts by the US Army in Iraq included Kirk von Ackermann. CID determined von Ackermann died on the day he disappeared but his remains have not been found.

The Investigation

Below is general information on responsibility for the investigation.

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (HQCID) in Fort Belvoir, Viginia, oversees all Army criminal investigation activities and resources worldwide. The Commander is directly responsible to the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Secretary of the Army.

U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (HQCID)
6010 6th Street
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-5506
http://www.cid.army.mil/

Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and operating throughout the world, CID Special Agents conduct criminal investigations that range from death to fraud, on and off military reservations and when appropriate, with local, state and other federal investigative agencies.

Mission, history, command structure, and the various investigation units of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, can be found at their website.

Each CID group and region, battalion and district, and major procurement fraud field is assigned a specific geographic area of responsibility (AOR) which it apportions among its subordinate field units.

The initial investigation into the disappearance of Kirk von Ackermann was first handled by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the U.S. Army's Fourth Infantry Division, based in Tikrit.

Since May of 2004*, the Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU) at HQCID, has taken over responsibility for investigating both the disappearnace of Kirk von Ackermann and the death of Ryan Manelick

An article from 2003 describes the MPFU.

CID Special Agents Looking for Recruits by Chris Grey, Army News Service, May 16, 2003

Major Procurement Fraud Unit

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command's Major Procurement Fraud Unit is the only 100-percent civilian investigative element of CID. The MPFU special agent workforce consists of more than 100 Criminal Investigators (1811 series) in grades GS-9 through GS-15. CID agents assigned to MPFU investigate major fraud crimes associated with the Army's procurement and contracting process. MPFU also protects Army logistics from "factory to foxhole."

Chris Grey is a spokesperson for the Criminal Investigation Command.

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