Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Please Try To Forgive Albrecht Gero Muth

Viola Drath’s husband, Muth, charged with second-degree murder in her killing

The couple hosted frequent parties in their home and across Washington, bringing together the city’s elite, including U.S. government officials, generals, foreign diplomats and media powerhouses. Muth told them that he is a general in the Iraqi army with inside access to leaders across the globe. Muth also would sometimes walk around his neighborhood in a military uniform, carrying a swagger stick. But the Iraqi government says he isn’t a member of its military. It is one of several claims detectives are investigating as they try to piece together Drath’s slaying, police said. Interviews with numerous Washington officials and journalists have revealed that Muth built an impressive e-mail list over the past two decades that reached the highest levels of government. Ambassadors and defense attaches attended dinners in the basement of his home under the guise of official Iraqi events. Journalists were lured with promises of hobnobbing with high-ranking members of the Iraqi military. Muth would don official-looking Iraqi uniforms, signed his e-mails with the title of staff brigadier general and frequently contacted the media — including several Post reporters and editors — claiming inside information about the Iraq war. - The Washington Post