Coup Plot Allegations Focus on Corruption and Infiltration of Principal Blackwater Accuser

The Iraqi Ministry of Interior is "reputedly dominated by Shi'ite militias and rife with corruption," CNN reports, citing confusing information an alleged plot within the ministry to overthrow the US-backed government.

An Iraqi military spokesman said, "The operation was based on information about some officers facilitating terrorist activities and helping outlaws and the remnants of the vanquished [Baath Party] regime," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Minister of Interior says the whole controversy is a politically motivated hoax to affect elections next month. An Iraqi judge threw out the case, citing lack of evidence. However, many remain concerned that the ministry, which controls the national police, remains a haven for Shi'ite terrorists and insurgents as well as criminal elements.

The matter is especially important to followers of Blackwater because the Ministry of Interior has been a primary source of some of the most sensational allegations against the company and its men over the Nisoor Square shootout.

An independent US commission of retired American generals and police chiefs recommended that the Ministry of Interior be closed down and reorganized due to its inherent dysfunctionality. US prosecutors have relied heavily on the Ministry of Interior and national police to build their case against five former Blackwater guards.

FBI Calls It 'Instrumental.' Gen. Jones Calls It 'Dysfunctional.'

"The assistance provided by the Iraqi national police was instrumental to our success of our mission." That's what FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Joseph Persichini, Jr., tells reporters when unveiling the government's case against five former Blackwater men allegedly involved in the 2007 Nisoor Square shootout.

This is the same force that's so plagued with corruption and infiltrated by terrorists that it can scarcely function.

The same force under the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, which a panel of retired US generals and police chiefs said was so dysfunctional that it should be shut down and that the police should be "disbanded and reorganized." The panel, called the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, concluded,

"The Ministry of Interior is a ministry in name only. It is widely regarded as being dysfunctional and sectarian, and suffers from ineffective leadership. Such fundamental flaws present a serious obstacle to achieving the levels of readiness, capability, and effectiveness in police and border security forces that are essential for internal security and stability in Iraq."

One of the members of the panel was Gen. James Jones USMC (Ret.), whom President-Elect Barack Obama recently appointed to be his National Security Advisor.

The group's report was published and released in a highly publicized news conference just 10 days before the Nisoor incident.

And the FBI says the force that Gen. Jones said should be shut down was "instrumental" in helping build the case?

Click here for a PDF of the independent commission's report.

Where's the video?

The Iraqi Ministry of Interior, on whose word most news reports of the September 16 are based, claims to have a video of the incident.

But strangely, the ministry hasn't released the video, and nobody has leaked it to the press. Which prompts the questions, Is there a real video at all? Is the Interior Ministry making it up to blow smoke? If there's something to it, please, let the world see.

Interior Ministry shakedown?

Could corruption be the reason why the Iraqi Ministry of Interior made such blanket allegations about Blackwater, calling the company 100 percent guilty and demanding that it be kicked out of Iraq?

That's what some informed sources in Washington are asking right now. The Political Warfare blog says, "The controversy smells like political warfare-style retaliation after a failed shakedown. The spectacularly corrupt Iraqi Interior Ministry probably tried to get the company to pay millions in fake 'license fees' and found that Blackwater doesn't pay bribes. Even Al Jazeera says in its Blackwater reporting that the Americans have no confidence in the Iraqi police, who are under Interior Ministry authority."

Iraqi Ministry of Interior inept and corrupt, according to report

The US report on the sorry state of Iraq's security services lends a lot of credence to concerns that the Ministry of Interior has been trying to shake down Blackwater for millions of dollars in bribes.

Issued on September 6 by the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, the report bares a lot of ugly facts that show why the American presence is still needed to keep Iraq from falling apart.

Its conclusion: "The Ministry of Interior is a ministry in name only. It is widely regarded as being dysfunctional and sectarian, and suffers from ineffective leadership. Such fundamental flaws present a serious obstacle to achieving the levels of readiness, capability, and effectiveness in police and border security forces that are essential for internal security and stability in Iraq."

The report says that "sectarianism and corruption are pervasive" in the Ministry of Interior, "and cripple the ministry's ability to provide internal security for Iraqi citizens." (p. 17).

Click here for a copy of the report.

The commissioners who signed the report are among the most impressive authorities anywhere. They are:

General James L. Jones USMC (Ret.) - Former Supreme Allied Commander Europe and 32nd Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.
General John Abrams USA (Ret.) - Former Commanding General, Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Lt. General Martin R. Berndt USMC (Ret.) - Former Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces.
General Charles G. Boyd USAF (Ret.) - President and CEO, Business Executives for National Security; former Deputy Commander, U.S. European Command.
Command Sergeant Major Dwight J. Brown, USA (Ret) - Former Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Central Command.
The Honorable Terrance Gainer - Sergeant at Arms, U.S. Senate. Former Chief, United States Capitol Police.
The Honorable John J. Hamre - President and CEO, Center for Strategic and International Studies. Former Deputy Secretary of Defense and Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller).
Colonel Michael Heidingsfield, USAF (Ret.) - President and Chief Executive Officer of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission. Former Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police Emeritus, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Admiral Gregory G. Johnson, USN (Ret.) - Former Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Commander in Chief, Allied Forces, Southern Europe.
General George Joulwan, USA (Ret.) - Former Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Lt. General James C. King, USA (Ret.) - Former Director, United States National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland - Assistant Chief Constable, Urban Region, Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Lt. General Gary S. McKissock, USMC (Ret.) - Former Deputy Commandant, Installations and Logistics, United States Marine Corps.
Sergeant Major Alford L. McMichael, USMC (Ret.) - Founder, The 4-DREW Foundation. Former Sergeant Major, United States Marine Corps.
Brigadier General Richard Potter, USA (Ret.) - Former Deputy Commanding General, United States Army Special Operations Command.
Major General Arnold Punaro, USMC (Ret.) - Executive Vice President, SAIC. Former Director, Marine Corps Reserve and Commanding General, 4th Marine Division.
Chief Charles H. Ramsey - Former Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C.
Chief John F. Timoney - Chief of the City of Miami Police Department.
Lieutenant General John A. Van Alstyne - Former Deputy Commanding General for initial entry training, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
General Charles Wilhelm, USMC (Ret.) - Former Commander, U.S. Southern
Command.