- Serious questions remain concerning Col. Westhusing's
"suicide" in Iraq. Army's chief ethics expert was murdered,
according to Carlyle Group insider.
-
- According an informed source within The Carlyle Group
business consortium, Col. Ted Westhusing, the Army's top military ethicist
and professor at West Point, did not commit suicide in a Baghdad trailer
in June 2005 as was widely reported in the mainstream media five months
later. At the time of his death, Westhusing was investigating contract
violations and human rights abuses by US Investigations Services (USIS),
formerly a federal agency, the Office of Federal Investigations (OFI),
which operated under the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
-
- In 1996, OFI, which conducted background investigations
for civil service personnel, was privatized. The 700 government employees
of OFI became employee-owners as part of USIS. In January 2003, the New
York investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe, described by a
Carlyle insider as a virtual shadow operation for The Carlyle Group, bought
USIS for $545 million. With 5000 current and former employees of USIS
sharing $500 million, the deal made them wealthy with the stroke of a
pen. However, upper management within USIS became much wealthier than
the rank-and-file. Insiders report that the twelve top managers at USIS
became multimillionaires as a result of their cashing in of their Employee
Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). Many of these instant millionaires already
had a close relationship with The Carlyle Group.
-
- Carlyle had been a shareholder in USIS since 1999 and
with the buy-out deal via the Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe deal,
Carlyle became the major shareholder.
-
- USIS continues to have a virtual exclusivity deal to
perform background security investigations for OPM. The company bills
itself as "one of the largest Intelligence and Security Services
companies in North America."
-
- With the Iraq invasion, USIS obtained lucrative Pentagon
private security contracts in Iraq. At a 2004 job fair in Falls Church,
Virginia, USIS was advertising for "interrogators" and "protection
specialists" for "overseas assignments." While he was in
Iraq training Iraqi police and overseeing the USIS contract to train police
as part of the Pentagon's Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, Westhusing
received an anonymous letter that reported USIS's Private Services Division
(PSD) was engaged in fraudulent activities in Iraq, including over-billing
the government. In addition, the letter reported that USIS security personnel
had murdered innocent Iraqis. After demanding answers from USIS, Westhusing
reported the problems up the chain of command. After an "investigation,"
the Army found no evidence of wrongdoing by USIS.
-
- That decision signed Col. Westhusing's death sentence.
USIS and Carlyle have powerful allies in the administration, including
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Princeton roommate of Carlyle Chairman
Emeritus and former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci. Former President
George H. W. Bush, former Secretary of State James Baker, and former British
Prime Minister John Major are Carlyle international advisers. George W.
Bush was formerly employed by a Carlyle subsidiary and the Bin Laden business
cartel was a one-time investor in the firm.
-
- Westhusing, who, according to friends and colleagues,
showed no signs of depression, left a suicide note the Army concluded
was in his handwriting. However, Westhusing's family and friends have
thrown cold water on the Army's investigation.
-
-
-
- Col. Ted Westhusing: Chalk up another victim of the
Bush crime family
-
- WMR can report that based on information obtained from
Carlyle insiders, Col. Westhusing's death was not caused by suicide. The
fact that Westhusing was investigating one of the most politically and
financially powerful firms in the world resulted in higher-ups wanting
him out of the way. According to the Los Angeles Times, all of the witnesses
who claimed Westhusing shot himself were USIS employees. In addition, a
USIS manager interfered with the crime scene, including handling Westhusing's
service revolver. The USIS manager was not tested for gunpowder residue
on his hands.
-
- Westhusing's investigation threatened to unearth a network
of fraudsters looting the US Treasury that included the Bush family and
some of their closest financial partners. After Westhusing's murder, USIS
management sent a vaguely-worded memo to employees about how to respond
to derogatory information in the media or rumors about USIS. Management's
attention, described as "psychotic" in nature, was on USIS's
upcoming IPO (initial public offering), according to a well-placed source.
-
- USIS also owns Total Information Services of Tulsa,
Oklahoma, a commercial personal data mining operation.
-
- Coming Up: How Carlyle began on the net operating loss
(NOL) financial backs of Native Alaskan tribal corporations.
|
