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| Home Front: WoT |
| Boucher addresses Warden System |
| 2004-04-12 |
| EFL from State Department daily press brief. MR. BOUCHER: I don’t know exactly how many families we’re in touch with. We are generally getting in touch with the families of those who have been reported missing. And we’re trying also, through our registrations of Americans in Baghdad, our Consular Officer in Baghdad is reaching out to the various Warden systems and other networks that we have to try to ascertain the welfare and whereabouts of all the Americans we know about in Iraq. QUESTION: Is it your understanding that these people were registered in the Warden system? MR. BOUCHER: I don’t know if these particular seven who have been reported missing were registered or not. QUESTION: Okay. Does the State Department advise people who are working as contractors, in whatever capacity, for the CPA or various -- to register, civilians? MR. BOUCHER: We advise every American civilian who is in Iraq to register with our Consular Officer so that we can not only look for them if they go missing, but also keep them up to date on the kind of information that we put out on threats or advisories. QUESTION: What’s your understanding of the reason why, on Friday, that when the -- when the Consular Officer in Baghdad did an initial check and the initial reports came back from the companies that they had, in fact, no information about anyone missing. And it looks like today, there’s seven. Can you explain how that happened? MR. BOUCHER: No, I can’t. That’s not a question for the Consular Officer or for me, that’s a question for the companies on what information they had at different points. QUESTION: Well, no, no, it goes to the point of whether these people actually did register, did follow the advice and register with the Embassy -- or the Consul, sorry. MR. BOUCHER: No, it doesn’t. If people are registered with us, we may have a direct contact number or phone number, email address. In any case, the Warden system relies on various nexus and clusters of Americans, be it a company or a division within a company or some other group that’s organizing their activities. So through those -- that Warden system, we’ll get to people who didn’t necessarily register with us who were part of those groups. QUESTION: Do you know if an effort -- do you know if there’s been an effort made to go out and make sure that all these contracting companies have, indeed, given you -- or given the Consul the list, the list of their U.S. citizen employees? MR. BOUCHER: I think -- again, we -- people register with us as individuals. In addition, through their various organizations and employers, we have a Warden network that we think gets to as many Americans as we can in that country. And if we call a company, and then they might be responsible for calling 20 people on their list and it cascades out. QUESTION: Are you aware of any company that has refused or that has not taken -- that has refused the suggestion to register its employees, particularly these contract -- contract employees who are -- MR. BOUCHER: It’s not a company to register its employees. It’s employees, individuals, who can register directly with us so that they receive materials directly from us with a degree of certainty that’s greater than if they rely on the network established through their company. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |