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One Missing, One Dead: An Iraq Contractor in the Fog of War

Sun May 21, 2006 at 05:27:19 PM EST

by Susie Dow with Steven Reich
for ePluribus Media

On October 9, 2003, Kirk von Ackermann disappeared from his car on a road in Iraq leaving behind a laptop computer, satellite phone and $40,000 in cash. Two months later, on December 14, 2003, his colleague Ryan Manelick was gunned down shortly after leaving a meeting at a base. Before he died, Manelick said the disppearance of von Ackermann was connected to fraud. Both worked for Ultra Services of Istanbul, Turkey.

Ultra Services fulfilled logistics contracts for the US Army in Iraq.

commentary :: :: :: buzz-it!

From a chance meeting in 2001 for a wedding in Kyrgyzstan, to an attempt by employees to steal the business, to a new company in Afghanistan, Dow's article traces Ultra Services into the the fog surrounding the company in Iraq with One Missing, One Dead.

The full article can be found at the ePluribus Media Journal, One Missing, One Dead: An Iraq Contractor in the Fog of War by Susie Dow with Steven Reich.

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One Missing, One Dead: An Iraq Contractor in the Fog of War | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden)

One Missing (5.00 / 1) (#1)

This article would not have been possible without Geoff Nordloh's assistance and patience in helping me to understand the history of the various companies.

And a special thank you to everyone at ePluribus Media.

To learn more about the extraordinary man Kirk von Ackermann, please visit the blog started recently by his wife:

Missing In Iraq

She's very new to the blogging world, and you'll want to read her posts in the archives such as this one from March 24:

Getting to Iraq part two: Counter Terrorism
Kirk was involved with designing readiness excercises - scenarios to be used by various units as they tested their skills. He proposed that a small boat filled with explosives be used as a weapon against a large warship - and was told it was an unrealistic idea. This was, of course, well prior to the USS Cole attack.
He also, along with his team, not only suggested that a commercial jet could be used as a terrorist weapon, but predicted the most likely targets that would be chosen. Again, he was ignored, and sometimes laughed at.
Perhaps if the frustration hadn't been so high Kirk might have stayed with the military. He loved the Air Force - the work, the people, the culture. But counter-terrorism is a consuming job. To do it well you have to think like a terrorist - something Kirk found, in his words, 'profoundly discouraging.' With the clearances he held, it seemed likely he would be doing counter-terrorism for the forseeable future. He made the difficult choice to leave the Air Force.

by susie dow on Sun May 21, 2006 at 05:15:24 PM EST

Wow -- great story, Susie. (5.00 / 2) (#2)

Saw & bumped it at dKos as well.

by GreyHawk on Sun May 21, 2006 at 06:50:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ditto that, Greyhawk. (5.00 / 2) (#3)

The research alone on this one was awesome..
Lots of original work!

Great job Susie -- and wander too!

by Cho on Sun May 21, 2006 at 07:01:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Article (5.00 / 1) (#5)

Thank you Grey Hawk. Much appreciate that you got a chance to read it. I know it's very long.

It's been lopped and cropped so many times but I don't think it would be possible to make it any shorter.

by susie dow on Sun May 21, 2006 at 07:32:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

: Haven't completed it yet... (none / 0) (#6)

...'cuz I've been interrupted on it sooo many times. But, I think I'm 3/4 thru, and sit down to complete it this afternoon.
Very well done.

by GreyHawk on Thu May 25, 2006 at 11:26:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]