The Blotter makes Condi’s day … worse

ABC’s The Blotter happened into some ver’ interesting emails today. Ver’ interesting — especially while Condi Rice happened to be sitting there saying such things to Henry Waxman about Blackwater as, “I certainly regret that there was not the oversight that there should have been,” and that she’s not “personally following every investigation.”

Because, you see,

Internal State Department e-mails, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, show top officials were extensively briefed about repeated incidents of Blackwater security guards killing innocent civilians more than two years ago. …

[T]he e-mails show that State Department officials had extensive knowledge of a growing problem in the summer of 2005, and complained about a lack of a compensation program for civilian victims[, and that] State Department officials in Washington maneuvered to stonewall inquiries by a reporter for the Los Angeles Times about a Blackwater incident in 2005 near the ABC News headquarters in Baghdad. …

Click over there for the full texts. You’ll find this one edifying too:

Even as she accepted the resignation of State’s security chief Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quietly promoted two senior staffers who directly oversaw controversial Blackwater security operations, sources tell ABC News.

Justine Sincavage has been serving as director of the Overseas Protection Operation (OPO), which has direct responsibility for all State Department security contracts for Iraq and Afghanistan. That includes overseeing Blackwater, which has won more than $1 billion in security work from the State Department.

According to internal State Department documents, Sincavage was promoted Tuesday. Sincavage’s predecessor as OPO director, Kevin Barry, was also promoted, the documents show.

The in-house reviews are anything but good, as you’ll see.

I dunno, after all these years, I guess my shockmeter’s worn to a nub. Really, all I can do is marvel at the woman.

lotus

Tags: , Blackwater, Condoleezza Rice, Henry Waxman, Justine Sincavage, Kevin Barry, State Department