U.S. Covered Up Gang Rape And Detention Of Halliburton Employee
By Logan Murphy Sunday Dec 09, 2007 2:48pm
Via ABC News:
A Houston, Texas woman says she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad, and the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident.
Jamie Leigh Jones, now 22, says that after she was raped by multiple men at a KBR camp in the Green Zone, the company put her under guard in a shipping container with a bed and warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she'd be out of a job.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court against Halliburton and its then-subsidiary KBR, Jones says she was held in the shipping container for at least 24 hours without food or water by KBR, which posted armed security guards outside her door, who would not let her leave. Read on...
Unfortunately, the scumbags who committed the rape and their employer will most likely never be charged with their crimes, thanks to huge loopholes in the law that exempt contractors in Iraq from U.S. or Iraqi law. Jamie has founded a non-profit organization to help other women who have been raped by contractors in Iraq called The Jamie Leigh Foundation. Since our government is dragging their feet, Jamie's only real option is a civil lawsuit - I wish her well.
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This is not good news for the Haliburton Administration.
poor girl.... why the hell would you go to iraq in the first place?
there are other jobs.
unspeakable
Good luck Ms. Jones.
What a bunch of lowlifes. cheney, bush, and all their stinking cronies should be stripped naked, waterboarded, locked up in a shipping container like sardines, and airdropped somewhere in the middle of the ocean as fish food.
I guess Haliburton likes to take after they're old CEO Cheney.
You know, being lawless and all. I hope she (bleep) the
(bleep) out of them in court.
Halliburton's lawyers are fighting to ensure that the case goes to arbitration instead of a judge and jury, so that Dick Cheney won't have to lose any money just because this woman was gang-raped by his employees in the war zone he created.
But wait, there are no laws for contractors in Iraq. They can do whatever they please. The Iraqi government can't prosecute them nor can the military.
Shame on this women for creating the temptation for these poor, misunderstood taxpayer-funded war profiteers.
Shes 22? How is she 22 and working in Iraq for Haliburton?
Is this really legit? Could someone confirm this? I thought there were safeguards to stop young pretty good looking girls from getting into positions like this.
And if we call these guys mercenaries we are derided as unpatriotic.
She was raped and now screwed.
Haliburton has license 007. They get away with murder. Why not rape?
Of course, there should be no immunity for crimes of this nature...and management is responsible for the coverup. They need to be tried, convicted, jailed. And yes, the shareholders can suffer too...if you invest in violence, you should reap the appropriate returns....
(not an eye-for-an-eye...that's savage. I mean they lose their money...)
Pete @ 8:
WHAT!? Are you saying that the fact that she is young and pretty has anything to do with this case? What percentage of this crime do you think is her fault because of her looks? You make me sick.
This is just too sad.
This is HORRENDOUS!!!!
I'm not a legal scholar, but why isn't the immunity granted to Halliburton et al. not unconstitutional? How can this administration just create a legal vacuum like this? If anybody knows the legal justifications for this please oblige. Otherwise, I think she should also sue the shit out of Bush directly and let the Supreme court decide the legality of these blanket legal protections.
Right wing douche bags arriving to blame the victim in 3...2...1...
Pete @ 8:
Rape is about anger, not sex. Looks have nothing to do with it. And this sounds like mob action, which brings a whole other set of [unchecked] behavioural stuff to the table.
You may want to do so reading on the psychology of rape. You seem to be woefully undereducated on the subject.
I wonder how long until Limbaugh will call her a phony rape victim? Anyone got the over-under on that bet?
TimV @ 17:
You mean he hasn't yet?
TimV -
Americans who are overseas and not government employees generally can't be prosecuted by American authorities.
Paul Bremer issued a law exempting contractors in Iraq from prosecution by the Iraqi authorities for what they do during their official duties.
My DEEPEST sympathies to this brave woman. Thank goodness she is taking back her power.
BTW, Halliburton warned her that she would be "out of a JOB" if she sought medical treatment???? WTF??? That was probably the least of her worries.
OT but not such a downer is this
Cindy Sheehan Launches Campaign to Unseat Nancy Pelosi
SF news report
Hey, rape is fine when the perp is white. Prisons need innocent black males to take the fall for everyone else.
Considering just how far this ghastly situation went I'm actually glad that guard gave her that cell phone to call her dad to let him know what happened.
She may of not survived this ugly incident if nobody knew and her dad didn't make calls on her behalf.
That is frightening.
And Barrett D. @ #19
How sensitive of you.
Eric Jaffa @ 20:
So, okay, presumably the exemption of overseas contractors from prosecution by American authorities arose due to jurisdiction issues: i.e.- the US government would be stepping on another sovereign nations toes if they held their citizens to US standards everywhere in the world. Then in what way did Bremer have the right to dictate the jurisdictional powers of Iraq? Once the CPA disbanded, it's jurisdiction and authority ceased. It seems as if this kind of logic creates recognized lawless-zones. What if Halliburton/Blackwater contractors are deployed on US soil, but they are non-US citizens, yet come British official decides that they are exempt from prosecution. Would that still hold? It seems to go blatantly in the face of international law.
Bush, when informed of the rape, said 'It's one of the unfortunes of war'.
Then, apropos of nothing, he repeated his mantra, 'Childrens do learn', then caught himself, said 'Heh,Heh,Heh', and corrected it to 'Children does learn'.
Proud of himself, he left the stage by walking through the wall.
'What'll we drink to now, Georgie?'
With all due respect, when you lay in the mud with pigs, you have to expect this sort of shit.
What about the 14 year old Iraqi girl that got raped and murdered. Where is her fucking foundation.
No sympathy here......go talk to Prince or Bush...they are youd daddy....not the usa...sistah
AHHHHHHH!!!
I can't take it anymore! This administration is deplorable and should have been gone so long ago it is not funny!
Are you happy Nancy Pelosi? Thanks so much for taking impeachment off the table....really, just think of the horrible mess it would have caused for you and your co-workers.....NEVERMIND THE AMERICANS BEING SHOT, CHEATED, AND RAPED DAILY!
James Izzard @ 28:
Your kidding right? So it's HER fault that she was brutally raped because she went to work for a American contractor? WHO is writing this crap? Cheney himself?
YOU ARE EXACTLY WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY!
YES i AM YELLING AT YOU TO LEAVE NOW TROLL.
TimV @ 17:
I think those are even odds, for tomorrow. Brent
Compassionate conservatives at work again...
I'm sure congress will ignore it also.
I used to be proud to be American.
James Izzard @ 28:
So what you're saying is that this woman deserved to be repeatedly raped because she was working for Halliburton? I'm sure her parents will take comfort in that fact.
How very humanitarian of you.
me and myself @ 31:
Man, since this has been proven to be true they should really do something about this.
Wait, you mean it hasn't? Well, go ahead anyway, since that whole thing about innocent until proven guilty doesn't really matter. Anything to destroy your enemies, right?
"Learn to fucking type."
Mister Pink
What is even more sickening are the comments posted on the ABC site (linked from her site). They are calling her names and calling her a fraud.
In the righties' minds (oxymoron) this has somehow become a "moonbat" issue where the "evil" libs are propping this story to take attention away from Bush's ass kicking of the democratic congress! No crap...this is what is being posted over thee! Truly disgusting.
I should add I'll gladly join the lynch mob if this is proven to have happened.
bobaloo @ 35:
Oh you're right. With her full access to the court system the legal process will surely get all the facts straight and will prove her right or worng. Oh wait... that's the whole point with this story!
There is no innocent until proven guilty when you lose the ability to prove someone is guilty! Get it?
Barrett D @ 19:
She was raped, and you type "i'd tap that"? You f cking Neanderthal!
Just more Republicans eating and abusing their own. No big deal.
Don't wanna be raped in Iraq? Don't go to Iraq.
Having to call the State Department to rescue an American being held hostage by Americans?
Surreal.
Looks like this poor young lady just learned a very important $6 figure lesson, that some things just aren't worth it, no matter how good the money is.
The thing I have a problem with is how any female, regardless of her looks, that has grown up in this American culture in the last 20 years, (knowing how messed up we are as a people when it comes to male/female relations), can go into an environment like the Green Zone and not expect something bad to happen?
Seems a little obtuse, or willfully ignorant on her part to me.
That being said, I hope they nail this gang of cowardly gang-rapers to the effing tree.
~Nyc
I think that most of the media is owned by something like 5 companies. Often with them being owned by Defense Contractors or members of the Military Industrial Complex. It's no wonder we don't hear half the stories or get the reporting a democracy like ours needs. It is therefore in my opinion, the duty of the blogs to unearth these cover-ups and expose them to the public of America. Thank you for this post. I hope we continue to expose cover-ups by these war machine asses no matter where we find them. Peace.
Shows how easily someone--even a pretty, white, young, Christian Texan--can be disappeared by shadow-government goons. Too bad the wingers will start stalking her in 3,2,1...
Yeah, jury is out on this one.. Oh wait, there is no case, courtroom, judge, investigation; who needs a jury? I would really love to be a fly on the wall at these companies (KBR, Halliburton..) to get a real picture of everything that they're up to. I know it's hard to believe but I just don't trust people the same any more since George Bush became king.
Dustin de Wynde @ 41:
Absolutely.
Where was Daddy's sage advice before she upped for "hazard duty"?
This story needs to be pursued further. If this kid is telling the truth -- and there's nothin in the ABC story to suggest that she's making any of this up -- Halliburton needs to pay dearly and be exposed as a low-life haven for scumbags. And that should be the beginning. The crap that that moron Bremer laid down for this kind of human garbage -- that they are all immune from Iraqi law -- needs to be lifted, and the perps need to be identified and exposed.
I hope to God that someone is protecting the Halliburton "guard" who gave her the cell phone. He'll be crucial to the case against the gang rapists. I think someone above said it right: if she hadn't been able to call her father, she'd be dead. The rapists knew that she could identify them and the only way to silence her would have been to murder her. That CONEX she was in would have been shipped off shore and dropped into the sea.
I'll be very surprised -- and doubly sickened -- if this story just fades away. The rapists are uncomfortable right now, of course. The fact that she WAS locked in a CONEX and that she showed physical evidence of gang rape has to haver them looking for a way out. I only hope that the State Department doesn't provide one for them.
ahem. I'm not that other Pete that posted upthread.
Anyway, I am (like Izzard above) having trouble mustering sympathy for anyone who works for a company of rapists and pillagers like Halliburton / KBR in the first place. As much as I wish that she had not been raped, anyone who works for that corporation, exploiting and war profiteering, adding to the hell that is Iraq... well, like I said, my sympathy lies elsewhere.
The only good thing that could possibly come out of this is if it wakes America up to the fact that Halliburton (on the whole, all of them, even the victims who work for the company themselves) are swine, making ungodly amounts of money off of the suffering of others.
>Halliburton needs to pay dearly and be exposed as a low-life haven for scumbags
Mean while back in la la land !!
since U.S. contractors in Iraq can't be prosecuted, maybe she could slips some bills to some friendly Blackwater employees willing to do a little public service on the side.
biff diggerence @ 45:
Halliburton doesn't advertise that contractors aren't subject to laws when they sign up. So I can see how an American might assume that other contractors won't rape or kill them for fun. But the fact is that a contractor can kill other contractors or even visiting White House employees without breaking any laws.
And I think our Congressmen and Senators need to keep that in mind. Dick Cheney could have them killed by Halliburton Employees, and it would be legal to do so.
It's kinda hard to get past anything other than "US Covered Up Gang Rape and Detention of Halliburton Employee", which basically implies that it's a closed case. I'm very sympathetic to this woman either way. My point is that between Beauchamp and Haditha, we may want to be a bit more careful about unproven allegations from now on. Get it?
biff diggerence @ 45:
What is wrong with you guys? The 'something bad' that happened to her was not an explosive device or a shooting. It was a gang rape committed by her co-workers! Change the scenario a little. A female firefighter is cornered in the baracks and raped and detained until she manages to call for help. A female bank teller is locked in the vault while her male co-workers serially rape her. Does that make you feel any different? If our 'American' values don't apply over seas, then they don't apply anywhere. It shouldn't matter where she chose to work. That is such a BS blame the victim mentality.
bobaloo @ 51:
The term 'Guilty', implies that a crime had been committed. In this case their are no laws, so rape and murder are legal. So they can't be guilty. They broke no laws.
Fanon @ 52:
It doesn't even have to be a woman. If a man were gang raped, he'd be in the same situation.
Why does she hat america?!@1?!
Bravo Fanon!
bobaloo @ 34:
Wait, you mean it won't be proven one way or the other, because Halliburton is demanding that the case go to arbitration instead of before impartial fact-finders?
Well, go ahead anyway, since supporting George W. Bush at all costs is the only thing that matters, right?
So, how soon do the rapists get their Medals of Freedom?
Rev. Hucklebee, (R) Compassionate Christian Presidential Candidate from AK would ask:
"Is there any way she could be related to Bill or Hillary? That should be checked out first."
Fanon @ 52:
A firehouse, a bank ?
The point is that it's freakin Iraq.
An every day occurrence. The only difference is that she's Caucasian and Christian.
The part about making oneself as a female vulnerable to a potential violent attack by virtue of being in a dangerous area such as the "Green Zone" does make sense.
But it doesn't make it right and doesn't justify it.
This woman deserves to be heard and deserves justice.
Rusty Shackleford @ 57:
Halliburton can just bill the cost of litigation back to the taxpayers, with profit. After all, they are on a 'Cost Plus' program, meaning that the more costs they rack up, the more money they get. Settling lawsuits can mean huge profits for them. So they owe it to their stockholders to get sued and lose a lot. It is a fiscally responsible course of action under their business model.
I was watching Naomi Wolfe's talk last week, and she discussed the steps that dictators take to 'test the waters' for their take over, and one of them is a paramilitary force, exempt from the law, who has license to terrify by whatever means necessary, including torture and rape. KBR employees started with the local population and did not receive much censure for rape, murder and theft, so the elements in the company that are inclined that way (and there may be a certain amount of tacit encouragement for this kind of thing) will continue to escalate. This represents a next step; since they didn't get in trouble for raping non-citizens, now they will try citizens. And, gentlemen, don't forget you're just as able to be raped; in fact, in some cases, easier because you don't expect it and/or haven't been taught to fear rape or be careful of other men or women. (We can do it, too, gents.)
Blaming the victim, pointing out how 'dumb' she must be to take the job, etc is tacit approval for the rape. Would you stand there and watch her get 'punished' for being stupid? Would it make you... happy?
There is no place, no time and no circumstance in which it is acceptable to rob another human being of their sexuality (and even when or if Mrs. Jones recovers from the experience enough to be comfortable around groups of men, there is a certain innocence that comes along with not knowing what it's like to be the target of violence. Experiencing something like that has profound ramifications on the rest of your life.)
I am frankly disappointed with the 'no big deal' responses, as well. This is an escalating pattern of violence that is not being checked. There is absolutely no excuse for this being a civil suit (which implies that Mrs. Jones is suing on property rights, not human rights); it involves a government contractor and basic human rights. The government's job (that they aren't doing) is to provide advocacy for the citizens, among it the protection of the right to not get raped.
FYI-- I was just as pissed over the theft and the rape and murder of the 14 year old Iraqi girl (and her family.) This shit is just ridiculous, and there's no sense in those of us who are not trolls acting like Mrs. Jones somehow merited this. For shame!
[deleted - we're just going to end this now.]
I'm really surprised at some of the comments in here. Look, the kid says she was raped. The ABC sotry -- and admittedly, it's not been corroborated elsewhere yet -- points out that she was examined by physicians who found her physical condition to be conisstent with a victim of gang rape. The ABC story also avers that the State Department became involved and that she was, in fact, located in a CONEX container.
What this suggests is that he story is very likely true. Now, in the event that she somehow made all this up, somehow stole someone's cell phone to make a call from a CONEX container where she was hiding, somehow caused her private parts to be bruised consistent with forecable penetration, in that event, I'd hope that she is punished severely.
But in the event that she is telling the truth, she has been tortured and humiliated by low life scumbags and held prisoner, possibly for their further sadistic depredations and very possibly so they could figure a way to kill her. In that case, no one has a right to blame her for what happened. Damn, I though only right wing jackasses blamed rape vicitms for the crimes perp'ed against them. It seems I was wrong. "Daddy's sage advice" had nothing to do with the sadistic tortire this woman was subjected to. Anyone who thinks she is to blame for what happened is just so flat out ugly wrong it sickens me.
"She had it coming"
~Rush Limbaugh, 12/10/2007
I was proud to be an American, long ago when I was young and naive. Now I refer to my fellow citizens as Amurrycuns, and I judge all of you rather harshly. A large percentage of the electorate enabled this group of thugs to steal not one but two elections. In a sane universe, or in a country with a free press there would have been rioting after the court appointed the "president" back in 2000. Instead i have to look at news stories like this one, usually in a foreign press.
Fanon @ 52:
I'm not blaming the victim at all. I am saying that American culture has gone off the rails to the point where all the scenarios you are presenting are not only plausible and probable, but have likely already occurred.
More than once.
American "values" indeed.
That's why I say that she should have known better to go into an environment where the thin veneer that we have in the States of being civilized is completely removed.
Haven't been over to Malkin's malevolent cesspool yet, but judging from some of the wing-nut comments on ABC it looks like they got themselves a nice and meaty bone to play with for a while.
Not a one of them says anything about the State Department detail that was dispatched to rescue her from that shipping container.
That's kind of an inconvenient detail, if I were them I'd ignore it too.
Wow, just wow.
She may not get her day in court, but who knows this may work in the Court of Public opinion, and yes, that outcry would be driven by her looks.
~Nyc
PS: As far as the Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi rape incident goes, check out Brian DePalma's Redacted.
bobaloo @ 68:
*sniff sniff* Did the drugbaugh comment hurt your widdle feelings, cupcake?
bobaloo @ 68:
Sadly accurate.
mouthyb @ 63:
You're right. And since Blackwater is now doing work in the US, we should expect that this could happen to any of us. After all if you live in the US, you should expect that you and your family members run the risk of being gang raped by government contracted mercenaries.
When the SS first started raping young girls in Germany, they started with the outcasts. The public laughed and said they had it coming. But as they weren't punished, they got bolder and soon any young girl, or boy, was at risk of being gang raped by government back paramilitary members.
[deleted - we realize he's offensive, but we're going to try and stop this now. thanks.]
So does this mean Helliburton/KKK will be big contributors to Mike "we love rapists" Schmuckabee's presidential campaign?
votingvet @ 65:
Thank you, votingvet, for pointing that information out.
Why should it matter if she went over there willingly to work for KBR? Nobody should have to go through the hell that she went through. If we can rail against the use of inhumane torture techniques on alleged terrorists who want to do our country harm, then we should be able to muster up the same sympathy, compassion, and humanity for this woman. Atrocities such as this should never be excused so lightly. The "she had it coming" attitude of some posters here makes me sick.
Dr. Matt @ 72:
Roger and 10-4. :)
BTW, as a "resident" of Houston, Texas, I know many people that work for Halliburton (including an ex-gf). Contrary to common perception, largely their employees are quite liberal and are embarrassed by the connection with Cheney and Iraq.
Pete @ 8:
Pete, I wonder if you are a disguised Al-Qaeda with a Christian name. You think like an Al-Qaeda that pretty young girls are exposing themselves to be raped.
I wonder how many hours/days it will take this week to achieve the 14 points on the route to fascism
this story alone hits 5 of them :(
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
5. Rampant sexism.
6. A controlled mass media.
9. Power of corporations protected.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
Compassionate conservatives at work again
If this is "compassionate conservatism," I'd hate to see conservatism when it's pissed off.
There's a real sordid part of the left wing soul that's exposing itself here. It seems that some folks in here think gang rape isn't something to get excised about if it's perp'd against someone whose politics may not be in accord with theirs.
It seems that crime is only crime to these folks if its committed against someone they support and admire politically. If it's OK to blow off a horrible crime like this because the victim isn't anti-war, then what other crimes can be blown off when they're perp'd against non-Leftists?
I am mindful of a friend who told me that "a person's true values are demonstrated by what they tolerate when its done to others." Those who condemn the victim have shown their true values. By the way, they are exactly the same values as those demonstrated by the rapists and by their former CEO.
Well now she can probably only get a job in an Iraqi danceclub.
Oh wait, she's 22, she's too old.
Mercenaries, and if your working in a war zone as a civilian for a privet for profit company your a mercenary, tend to be rather self centered. Lonely and in a combat zone makes rape a side issue. Not being under any legal restraint makes it morally wrong, yet legally mute.
Welcome to the wonderful world of fascist America.
Let's impeach the authorities that let this go on.
votingvet @ 80:
You must be a typical reich-winger because you think you speak for the masses. How obtuse, yet expected.
Dr. Matt @ 75:
Only in America could an employee of the SS be considered a liberal.
Happily making and shipping the Zyklon B does not a liberal make, in my opinion.
votingvet @ 80:
Your reich-wing paranoid delusions warrants another layer of foil to you hat....or are you looking to get a job at Faux?
I think it's worth pointing out that she went to work for a supposedly blue-chip company that was previously run by the current vice president; if such a company makes assurances, explicit or otherwise, that a woman will be safe working for it in Iraq, then reasonable people would believe that the company meant it and would back it up. Now we know that Cheney is hateful scum and the leadership of a company often dictates its culture, but most people would have no trouble taking a job if Halliburton said it would be safe working among other employees that Halliburton theoretically vetted and okayed. So all of you tough, cynical guys who say she had it coming for one reason or another can cram your he-man woman-hating attitudes up your bungholes.
Sorry...but I have a difficult time feeling sorry for anyone who works for Halliburton.
The real surprise is that Halliburton didn't just kill the girl to cover it up and be done with it.
Pete @ 84:
Take a deep breath...you're going to jerk your knee out of socket.
the posted story has so many issues tied to it that its captures all the bad american stereotypes, and harkens to injustices that appear to be associated with disparities in income, race, sexuality, and common sense.
Disparity based on association:
have to concur we don't have any associations for Iraqi sexual assault victims that are getting coverage from the MSM. ( course is the MSM intent to get more salacious ratings, or deal with this travesty with the dignity it requires.)
American servicemembers go thru sexual assault prevention, rape prevention, cuz they are going in to a war zone, where evil things do happen.
Its apparent that this victim did not recieve equivalent training.
Servicemembers in Iraq are banned from drinking alcohol, and if there was an order allowing it, alcohol is only served to those over 21 years of age to prevent Alcohol affiliated date rapes, sexual assaults, and other crimes such as fights etc.
It Appears the contractors did not recieve equivalent training about alcohol associated serious incident prevention.
Maturity of the victim and economic class access.
We have a 19 year old middle class female who succumbed to our cultures ill concieved notions of beauty to acquire access to resources to pay for breast augmentation related cosmetic surgery, selected to work for a politically connected contracotr entity, providing information technology sustainment continuity support in a war zone.
What were her qualifications? Who or where was her personnel sponsor?
to many questions ..however this link has all the legal documents tied to it.
The paperwork was filed in May of last year, AND the Defendants in the case already attempted to deny charges based on her alcohol intoxication??/
and there are some other interesting legal assertions submitted, here is a sample
87. Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the Defense Base Act, the Longshore Harbor
Workers Compensation Act, and the War Hazards Compensation Act.
88. Plaintiffs’ claims are barred because the alleged injuries to Plaintiff were incurred
during combatant activities in time of war involving the United States military and defense
contractors, and are therefore barred by 28 U.S.C. § 2680(j).
89. Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the government contractor defense pursuant to the
discretionary function exception under 28 U.S.C. § 2680(a).
90. Plaintiffs’ claims are barred because the alleged injuries to Plaintiff occurred on
foreign soil as part of work for a defense contractor supporting the United States military, and is
therefore barred by 28 U.S.C. § 2680(k).
91. Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the government contractor defense.
92. Plaintiffs have no right to recover from Defendants because Plaintiffs’ alleged
injuries were the result of the actions of third parties, whose conduct constitutes an intervening
and superseding cause.
93. Plaintiffs’ claims may be barred, in whole or in part, by the doctrine of
contributory and/or comparative negligence.
94. Plaintiffs’ injuries were caused while Plaintiff, Jamie Jones, was intoxicated.
95. Plaintiffs’ claims, if any, for exemplary damages is limited by Tex. Civ. Prac. &
Rem. Code § 41.008.
96. Plaintiffs’ damages, if any, may be subject to offset for benefits received under
the Defense Base Act and/or the War Hazards Compensation Act.
97. Any alleged act of sexual assault by an employee is outside the scope of any such
person’s duties for Defendants.
here's the link, have at it
http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/texas/txedce/1:2007...
Dear Dr. Matt @ 88,
Real cute, do you even know who your enemies are half the time?
It's funny, but it's also maddening that some people in this thread are unable to realize that:
1. No one should be raped, and I wish that this woman had not been raped.
2. No one who works for a war profiteering corporation is blameless for the constant, unending murder and rape happening in Iraq.
Dr Matt, I've been left of center since before your mama stopped changing your diapers. If feeling sympathy for a rape victim makes me some kind of Nazi in your book, you're a very sick little weasel.
Pete @ 90:
What about us taxpayers who are funding the war?
So, this all means that Iraq is a country without laws.
How are we succeeding at exporting democracy here when an American woman is raped and kidnapped by her own countrymen and can't get justice?
Makes one wonder what is being kept from us about the abominations committed by American personnel in Iraq.
Hope Jamie has a really good, really mean fucking lawyer or two.
What the fuck is wrong with the posters on crooks and liars today? Saying she should have known better is blaming the victim. Thats like saying alter boys should know better because the catholic church protects the priests and not the victims.
ktpinnacle @ 92:
Iraq has laws. The problem is that U.S. contractors aren't subject to them, thanks to that dickhead Bremer.
Hey... If she had been an Iraqi victim of something like this, likely, they would have just killed her and tossed in an alley somewhere afterwards instead of locking her up in a shipping container.
James Izzard @ 27:
i hope you aint serious
if you are....eff off
VietVet8666 @ 93:
My sentiments exactly. If the facts as are she claims, I hope the company pays and the rapists are exposed and ruined. (There is probably only a slim chance of the rapists ever being brought to justice, but it would be nice for their names and faces to be publicized.)
Iraq, Iran, Irape - for the neo-clowns, there's no difference. Anything goes, and anything goes on.
The only reason the neo-clowns want stability in Iraq is so they don't get killed when they go there to partake in this stuff.
Rusty Shackleford @ 91:
Rusty, I am all for not paying taxes that are used to fund this atrocity in our names, but there is still a world of difference between paying your taxes and choosing to work for one of the top corporations who make their blood money off of the rape, murder and suffering of others, and who do everythign in their power to keep the war machine turning... next stop, Iran.
As sad and unfortunate as this is, I'd bet a million dollars this woman supports George W. Bush to this day. Further, she never stood up to rape and torture and murder of Iraqi women (and boys) by these evil, lawless bastards. I'm sorry, as much as this is vile and disgusting, she joined forces with these miscreants. If you run with murderers and thieves its hard to complain when they rob you, even if it is of your innocense. She needs to do some soul searching as to why she supports these people. After all, she states on her website she went to 'support the troops.' Wake up honey, these are the troops. Bought and paid for with your tax dollars and given complete immunity by George W. Bush so that NOBODY could charge them with the war crimes they have been hired to commit.
does the word chattel mean anything to anybody???
"Harmful traditions"
In all societies, poverty, discrimination, ignorance and social unrest are common predictors of violence against women. Yet the most enduring enemies of a woman’s dignity and security are cultural forces aimed at preserving male dominance and female subjugation—often defended in the name of venerable tradition.
In industrialized societies like the US, where institutions formally frown on gender violence, behaviour belies official pronouncements: rap music insulting women as ‘whores’; a popular men's magazine that celebrates gang rape and depicts female bodies being fed into meat grinders; sexual harassment of women trying to integrate into the armed forces; and societal pressures that induce young women to starve themselves or use technology to create ‘ideal’ bodies, often destroying their health in the process.
In developing countries, violent practices against women are often recognized and defended as strands of the cultural weave. Wife-beating, for example, is considered part of the natural order in many countries—a masculine prerogative celebrated in songs, proverbs and wedding ceremonies.
At their most extreme, expressions of gender violence include ‘honour’ killings, female genital mutilation and dowry deaths, as well as a deep-seated, even murderous, preference for male children.
In courts of law, the ‘honour defence’ is institutionalized in some Middle Eastern and Latin American countries, allowing fathers or husbands to walk away from murder. In 12 Latin American countries, a rapist can be exonerated if he offers to marry the victim and she accepts. In one country, Costa Rica, he can be exonerated even if she refuses his offer. The family of the victim frequently pressures her to marry the rapist, which they believe restores the family's honour.
The concept of male honour—and fear of female empowerment—also underlies the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). This excruciating procedure removes part or all of a girl's external genitalia and causes lifelong health problems for some women. It is aimed at preserving female chastity and marriage prospects and achieves its purpose at the expense of a woman's sexual pleasure and bodily integrity. Up to 130 million women and girls today in at least 28 countries, mostly in Africa, have had their genitals excised to some degree.
Defenders of the rite, who include many women, call FGM a traditional cultural practice of no business to outsiders. This is an old song. Throughout history, 'culture’ has been invoked to justify abhorrent practices ranging from slavery to binding women's feet. FGM must be eradicated because it is a grave human rights violation and a public health menace that transcends any and all cultural boundaries.
Traditions also feed the practice of ‘dowry death’, in which a woman is killed because she is unable to meet her in-laws’ demands for dowry. In India, over a dozen women a day die as a result of such disputes, mostly in kitchen fires designed to look like accidents.
‘Son preference’ is another insidious force directed against women, particularly in Asia. Genetic testing for sex selection, though officially outlawed, has become a booming business in China, India and the Republic of Korea. Anecdotal evidence suggests that outright infanticide, usually of newborn girls, takes place in some communities in Asia, while discrimination in health care also cuts short the lives of unwanted girl children in some regions.
In countries where people have adequate health care and food, 105 boys are born on average for every 100 girls, but fewer male babies survive the first year of life, reflecting the female's inherent biological advantage. In some nations, mostly in Asia, the sex-ratio drops dramatically. All told, violent discriminatory practices directed at girls and women have driven an estimated 60 million females off the face of the earth. Yet, instead of an international uproar over these disappearances, the plight of the so-called 'missing women’ is usually noted briefly in the women's section of development reports.
As war becomes less a battle between countries and more a struggle for supremacy between ethnic groups, women and girls increasingly face rape and forced pregnancy in times of conflict. Well over 20,000 Muslim women were known to be raped in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Balkan war, and more than 15,000 women were raped in one year in Rwanda. Just in recent years, mass rape has also been reported as a weapon of war in Cambodia, Liberia, Peru, Somalia and Uganda.
These are but a few of the ways that society drives home the message that a woman's life and dignity—her human rights—are worth less than a man's. From the day of their birth, girls are devalued and degraded, trapped in what the late UNICEF Executive Director James P. Grant poignantly termed ‘the apartheid of gender’. Long after slavery was abolished in most of the world, many societies still treat women like chattel: Their shackles are poor education, economic dependence, limited political power, limited access to fertility control, harsh social conventions and inequality in the eyes of law. Violence is a key instrument used to keep these shackles on.
quoted from http://www.unicef.org/pon97/women1b.htm
Kellogg-Brown and Root, best remembered for their Ronald Reagan organized criminals hired to union bust the West Coast trade unions under the scumbag scab direction of George Schultz who recruited these Nevada desert rats to attack Northern California. They came to town without tools, they carried guns instead.
[refers to deleted post]
You have to have a penis first, Mr. Tough Guy.
What these men did to this women is unacceptable and unbelievable. They should go to Jail for many years so they can pay for what they did. The U.S should never cover things like this because they are making themselves look bad and sooner or later people will find out and it is even worse.
Pete @ 100:
There is a world of difference indeed, but in this context I don't think it matters. Her level of complicity in the war does not somehow make it more "okay" that she was raped. I'm not saying that's what you were implying, but the things some people are saying could be interpreted that way.
The complaint is online, and tells quite a tale:
http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/texas/txedce/1:2007...
Interestingly, it names one defendant personally and a number of "doe" rapist defendants.
I wish her more than well.................if this was the case, I wish her the power to rise above, and the brains to get even any way she can. Track them to the ends of the earth...............I'd say they are fair game..........wouldn't you????
Oh, and what woman in her right mind to begin with, would go to that shithole and work for darth's company knowing full well they were not held accountable for ANYTHING?????
I wish them all a brush with INSTANT KARMA.
I'm reading some people blaming the victim. Oh yes, it's her fault for not being born an ugly man. How about your daughter,sister MOM? Wrong is wrong.
If the facts alleged are true, crimes (plural) were committed.
Sympathy, or lack thereof, for the victim is irrelevant from a legal standpoint. Period.
Uh. Mr. Anon @102. Buh bye.
ched, I posted an extract above from the defendants reply.. up around 88.
which than goes to the point if it was filed in May why are we hearing about it now??
Jay @ 94:
Don't get me wrong, I'm totally on her side.
I really thought that I had heard everything, but this atrocity really takes the cake, on so many levels I don't even know where to start.
I am relieved that we're not hearing about this one posthumously.
What I'm also saying that is that conditions between the sexes in America have deteriorated to the point that any female over the age of 10 knows that things are very bad here in this 'tap that ass' culture that we're in and that I find it challenging that any woman in that environment would have let her guard down for so much as a minute around these so-called "men".
That's not blame the victim at all, but I am saying that somehow she ignored her self-preservation instincts, despite having the smarts to land a job like this at a young age.
Like I said before, it looks like she learned a very expensive, first $80K is tax-free, lesson, and I hope she kicks ass in her Civil Suit and gets enough out of these scumbags to finance her kids Ivy League Graduate School educations, and then some.
As far as the Altar Boys thing goes, it was common knowledge that this thing was going on for years, to the point where it was a sight-gag in an Airplane! movie sequel over 20 years ago, so I'd be far more inclined to diss the parents for allowing their kid to be placed in such a vulnerable position.
~Nyc
The worst part of the story is going to be that the U.S. tax payer is spending like $5,000.00 per rape kit bought from...you guessed it Halliburton/KBR. They got a no-bid contract with the Bush-league admin to supply us with rape kits at "cost-plus." I bet one of the Blackwater Christians thought that they weren't going through enough rape kits, so they grabbed the nearest woman and the rest is history.
Just remember that Bush/Halliburton/Blackwater folks all think being a gay soldier is bad, but it's okay to kill, torture, mutilate, bomb, imprison, and rape innocent people as long as you are hetero "it's all good."
Roving gangs of unsupervised juveniles? What is it people don't understand about the trouble they get into?
I must say this... stories like these are what this blog was built for. Thanks C&L!!! Now... let's find some lying crook's ass to take down!
sigh.......and there ain't a damn thing that will get done about this........repugs run amuck.
reason 154346 why we need public financing of campaigns. These corporations are running wild like during the gilded age
jr @ 118:
What, do you think that the Corporations, (that have a Market Cap of over a trillion dollars on the NYSE/NASD), that own American Media are going to let go of the billion+ dollars that they're going to see in ad revenue next October/November from all the substance free negative attack ads that are going to be run then? Never mind all the ad revenue they've been generating for the last two years "covering" this now endless campaign for President.
Nope, they stole the Public Trust, fair and square, over 30 years ago and they're never gonna give it back.
It took a while, but I've gotten used to it to the point where it doesn't upset me, much, anymore.
~Nyc
Did anyone read some of the comments on the ABC site? This is one scary-ass country we live in. Nothing by vitrol and bile for women, people of color, libruls, etc. Maybe it's time to move to a sane country like Canada or Norway or France.
stevo @ 86:
do you really think they were going to let her walk out of that container?
FreeDUMB @ 115:
As a part-time contractor for the military, this is what I keep in the back of mind when I am on base. They are kids and I would be a fool to expect maturity out of them. They are ever-so-useful to the command.
Women are brave to tread in a world where they have such limited power.
Gang rape of an American female.
The kind of crime Dick Cheney considers a harmless hobby.
Forced prostitution of Iraqis.
Gang rape of an American female.
Texans, led by Sick Dick Cheney and Barb Bush's Boy, contribute their best to the war effort.
Mark @ 123:
Gang rape of ANY one. Why should gender and nationality make a difference?
I can guarantee that the rape of one young woman is among the least of the crimes being committed in Iraq.
Now, what are you going to do about it?
I bet she'd of been killed off if that sympathetic security guard hadn't lent her that cell phone.
Tragic story.
My solution -- use this story to cancel every Halliburton contract and any current or former subsidiary. Now and forever.
Halliburton and Blackwater... God Bless America
not trying to demean this.......but she's lucky she's alive.
What a sad sobering story. Why is it these kind of stories never seem to occur with so much frequency with other nations? Why is that? Is America truly the land of the barbaric? Or is it that the incidents are just broadcast globally when Americans are involved? Sigh. Either, or, truly a pathetic display of vulgarity.
and for that sympathetic security guard......It won't surprise me if he ends up dead.
Powkat @ 120:
We'll take ya!! Our doors are always open to the persecuted.
You know, thanks to the fact that parents have a great deal of leeway in the way they raise their kids, it's entirely possible no one ever really sat down with Mrs. Jones and told her she was a possible rape victim. That, by the way, is a heart-breaking discussion. As a parent of a pair of soon to be adolescent girls, I can tell you that I chose to talk to them, but I can see, because they've never experienced this kind of violence, that they don't really understand. I kinda had to talk to them; three times in the last six months I've found men following my 12 year old in stores. Not boys, men. In their forties and fifties, at a guess. As much fun as scaring the shit out of them has been, she's 12. 12. A 19 year old is (usually) almost equally as naive.
I'm going to guess here, but anyone who was experienced violence, especially sexual but not exclusively so, understands that no amount of seminars on the subject can simulate the kind of 'eyes in the back of the head' feeling that motivates a little healthy paranoia (yes, there is such a thing.) I can't tell you how many times I've asked people to be careful walking home to get a blank look.
I suppose this boils down to what kind of people are looking at the debate. The people who feel as if this is an issue of Mrs. Jones being practical (she should have watched closer, etc; we have to deal with the world the way it is) are probably going to blame her for not watching closely enough. Also for working for a company that does shitty things; that view makes Mrs. Jones proxy for the company, which is a lot to put on a then 19 year old's shoulders. Some people, me included, will argue that there is no excuse and that Mrs. Jones should never have been subjected to rape, no matter what risks she may or may not have taken. I'd like to forward that it is possible to teach people to be practical without being fatalistic: I may tell my girls to be careful and what to look for (and it sucks to have to curtail their childhood that way; I know they don't believe me and they're just humoring me), but that is not the extent at which I am willing to stop trying. I think of these kinds of debates, to the extent that we will listen to one another, as being a part of my effort to make a society my daughters will be safe in.
This does not make me any less of a 'hopeful,' or someone who tries to look forward. I can dream without refusing to any attention to what is. I'm just not going to settle for what is, capiche?
I have been at the ABC forum about this today, and took some srious shit from some very disturbed individuals. That forum is poisonous.
There are people there who blame the alleged victim. There are people who ignore the fact that the woman was rescued at the request of an elected official, by US Embassy guards. They have accused her of lying about using a cell phone to call for help, from a sympathetic guard outside the container she was detained inside of. On top of it, they get really pissed at ABC's forum if you refer to "alleged rapists from Halliburton/KBR" (excuse me, but isn't that an accurate description?). Seems the cronies there don't care for the word "rapist" attached to the corporate logo.
If this woman is willing to open up her personal life to media scrutiny, this corporation and our government should be as candid with us. But they won't even confirm they know anything!
mouthyb @ 132:
I have two teen daughters. One 19, one 15. Had those chats, been ignored, and luckily NOTHING like this has happened to them. It is disgusting to say the least. Matters not the environment, where it happened in the world, etc. These things SHOULD NEVER happen. Unfortunately, there are alot of really sick people in this world.
votingvet @ 90:
VV, I'm with you on you previous comment. I'm of the opinion that Dr. Matt really didn't understand what you said and used his "shortcut" key to post a comment.
Haliburton and KBR need to lose all current government contracts and be removed from the government's bidder lists. As it so happens, some of the work I must periodically have done in my workplace is sometimes done by Haliburton. No more. they're off the list of bidders I will consider, as of now.
Jones told ABCNews.com that an examination by Army doctors showed she had been raped "both vaginally and anally," but that the rape kit disappeared after it was handed over to KBR security officers.
Wow. It's only going to get worse. Just image if KBR and black water started patrolling American streets. Foriegn mercenaries, and others.
DON"T give up your Firearms.
They want these kinds of people here durring martial law.
RH, how in the heck does this have anything to do with the Duke case? Also, how is rape ever a partisan issue? Something is being covered up here, and more in not visible than visible. We should all be concerned.
Mojopo: do you believe that right now there is enough evidence to convict? Because that's precisely what this post does:
"Unfortunately, the scumbags who committed the rape and their employer will most likely never be charged with their crimes..."
Paul @ 136:
Good! It's one of the gestures we can make to protest unethical behavior. Thank you for caring enough to do something about it.
Paul @ 136:
This is the only kind of pressure any of these mercenary outfits will ever understand. Kudos to you for making a (belated but) wise decision. But I really believe that mercenaries, all of them, need to be removed from every aspect of this illegal invasion. "Death by spreadsheet" is no more appealing in a legal war than it is in the healthcare situation.
As for my previous comment, I hope that no-one took it in any way shape or form as belittling Jones' situation:
These guys that did this should have the book thrown at them if they are guilty. We will never know about that as long as they cover this up. But if Jones had been an Iraqi citizen? No doubt in my mind, she would be dead right now.
if you really believe that the government is still in control, this should remove all doubt. they could slit they're mothers throat at Carnegie hall and still be defended by the administration.
skr @ 101:
Exactly!
The whole troops=good, contractors=evil is BS.
It’s a distraction of responsibility.
They are all just criminal crusaders.
Stop supporting troops.
Amazing how fast the socially retarded idiots crawl out when a post includes the word "rape." I haven't read more bullshit than what's been left here in a long time. So much for this being a "progressive" blog.
Here's hoping and praying it - rape - never happens to you or to someone you care about. You might not be so willfully stupid then. Here's hoping, anyway.
glad to see folks are reviewing the justia links so they know what they are talking about...
mouthyb @ 140:
I'll second that. Good work Paul. Thanks for taking a stand against hypocrisy.
I still say if you allowing them to do this then you are as guilty. Which is why the Americans SEEM guilty as much as the Germans SEEM guilty for accepting the Nazi's.
This is the time you guys live in, where the rich are protected and the laws of humans is disappearing.
It used to be a crime to rape someone, not anymore. Now talking about not liking your corporation can get you fired, beaten up, tazed and gang raped now,.
One step more and it's murder. "Don't like your job? it's better to kill you than to allow another company to gather you assets."
This is the future of our country unless we can stop the erosion of what was once the fiber of the USA. I would not be surprised if cheney had something to do with this coverup.
James Izzard @ 27:
I completely agree. The browns of war (Those whom the whites kill) are often forgetten.
"SicofFknLiars Says: Jones told ABCNews.com that an examination by Army doctors showed she had been raped “both vaginally and anally,” but that the rape kit disappeared after it was handed over to KBR security officers.
Wow. It’s only going to get worse. Just image if KBR and black water started patrolling American streets. Foriegn mercenaries, and others.
DON”T give up your Firearms.
They want these kinds of people here durring martial law"
Think about this:
They pass a law that states they can round up illegal immigrants without warrant... 7 million of them. How many of us (people who dissent against the adminisration) will get hauled away with the excuse. "Oh their just illegal immigrants."
Then Raped... Then Murdered.
The un'censored Abu Graib photos and case involve rape of boys, women and men. And not just "unwanted sex" it was demoralizing, please kill me now rape.
This is the horror that America is unleashing onto us. Or the supporters of the 'SPP' and their criminal ilk.
It isn't detention, it's false imprisonment--an intentional tort.
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