Apropos of why the US military and the Iraqis seem to be getting shut out of the Blackwater investigation is this question: what’s the State Department’s thing with Blackwater? What was it in the contracting personnel or system at State that led to this one outfit getting such an inside track? Does it go back to Bremer?
Late Update: One TPM Reader chimes in …
I’m sure you’ll get lots of leads on this from your network.
Something this reader would like to see is an interview with you and Jay Garner. Since he was the first ‘civilian’ leadership boots on the ground, I think he might provide an interesting perspective on the mercenaries. Was State and CPA actively planning to have the contractors perform a role, or was it Bremer’s brainchild after realizing that Rumsfeld’s minimalist plan wasn’t going to be able to do it all?
Garner had some choice things to say in Woodward’s book.
