Thursday, March 25, 2010
Kidnapped contractors killed in Iraq: Munns, Cote, Young, Nussbaumer, Reuben
Officials in the Bush administration refused to negotiate with kidnappers of three American security contractors in Iraq—until after the men were tortured and murdered. Families of the three guards employed by Crescent Security Group are now suing the State Department, arguing that federal officials got in the way of efforts to free the men.
Joshua Munns, John Young, John Cote and two other Crescent employees, Austrian Bert Nussbaumer and Chilean Paul Reuben, were kidnapped in southern Iraq November 16, 2006, while guarding a 46-truck convoy. Their families collected money and printed 90,000 flyers offering a reward for information about their sons. They FedExed the flyers to the Middle East, but the State Department blocked their distribution.
The families did not learn about the deaths of their sons until spring 2008 when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) became involved as the result of a personal friendship with a family member.
The families were told by the FBI that the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists, but after the men were killed, the State Department communicated with the captors to gain the release of the bodies.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Mourning Families Sue Hillary Clinton for Sons Tortured to Death in Iraq (by Tim Hull, Courthouse News Service)
Parents Sue U.S. Government over Anderson Security Contractor's Death (by Ryan Sabalow, Redding Reccord Searchlight)
Munns v. Hillary Clinton (U.S. District Court, Eastern California) (pdf)
Cotes Sek Answers in Jonathon’s Death (by Dan Herbeck and Lou Michel, Buffalo News) (pdf)
For Abducted Guards, Iraq Wasn't Just About Money (by Steve Fainaru, Washington Post)
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