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| Fifth Column |
| MoveOn makes a move on Halliburton? |
| 2007-12-14 |
| i've stayed on their mailing list largely to see what they get up to. Most of the time i just nod, sigh, and /dev-null them. Then today i got this. Rape is never a laughing matter, as i'm sure all Rantburgers will agree. And i'm not sure if it's the Halliburton or the MoveOn vibe, but this just seems like a new low. But the beautiful thing about the 'burg is just like the Noses that Know in the Lizard Legions, the straight dope is produced and the asses are duly fact-checked. i've pasted this straight from the distro e-mail. Sorry for the absence of snark, but, again, this isn't a snark-worthy topic (whether it's grounded or not). But there are salty snacks in the cupboard, and there are stiff drinks in the other cupboard. - Querent Dear MoveOn member, Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old woman working in Iraq for a subsidiary of Halliburton when she was drugged and brutally gang-raped by several co-workers. The next day, Halliburton told her that if she left Iraq to get medical treatment, she could lose her job.1 Jamie's story gets even more horrific: For the last two years, she's been asking the US government to hold the perpetrators accountable. But the men who raped her may never be brought to justice because Halliburton and other contractors in Iraq aren't subject to US or Iraqi laws. They can't be tried for a crime in any court.2 This is one of the most disturbing stories we have come across in a while. We're calling on Congress to investigate Jamie's case, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law so this can't happen again. If hundreds of thousands of us speak out against this outrageous story, we can force Congress to take action. Can you sign the petition? The text is in the blue box at the right. Clicking below will add your name. (petition box removed, but the url should stay for the benefit of the Halliburton Earthquake Division) http://pol.moveon.org/contractors_accountable/o.pl?id=11800-228046-b5rUhO&t=3 After you sign, please forward this email to friends, family and colleagues—we all need to speak out together. When you get an email from us, it doesn't usually include a graphic description of a brutal attack. But when we heard this story, we knew we had to do something about it. Here's how Jamie described what happened after the attack: I awoke the next morning in the barracks to find my naked body battered and bruised. I was still groggy from whatever had been put in my drink. I was bleeding... After getting to the clinic and having a rape kit performed...I was locked in a container with no food, no way to call my parents, and was placed under armed guard by Halliburton.3 Jamie's attackers aren't the only ones exploiting a legal loophole to get away with their violent crimes. Another female employee of Halliburton says she was raped by her co-workers in Iraq.4 Employees of Blackwater, another private contracting firm in Iraq, were accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians, and that incident turned into an international scandal. Worst of all, they may never be punished.5 Private contractors in Iraq are making massive amounts of money, operating above the law and are accountable to no one. This has to stop. Congress needs to act now to bring these contractors under the rule of law. If they don't, nothing will prevent a case like Jamie's from happening again. No man or woman working in Iraq should have to fear that they can be attacked without consequences. Please sign on to the petition: "Congress must investigate the rape of Jamie Leigh Jones and others, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law." Clicking below adds your name: http://pol.moveon.org/contractors_accountable/o.pl?id=11800-228046-b5rUhO&t=4 Thanks for all you do, –Nita, Wes, Karin, Marika, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team Friday, December 14th, 2007 |
| Posted by:Querent |
| #3 Barracks - where they live and sleep. More here. Not the first time either. Tracy Barker, KBR contractor, wife of US Army sergeant: The Department of Justice declined to prosecute a State Department employee who allegedly sexually assaulted a female Halliburton/KBR worker in Iraq, despite a recommendation from the State Department that he be charged, according to an internal document obtained by ABC News. Ali Mokhtare, who is still employed by the State Department, was investigated in 2005 after a female Halliburton/KBR employee said he sexually assaulted her at the company-run camp in Basra, Iraq. Mokhtare was a diplomatic official in Basra who first came to Iraq as a Farsi translator interviewing detainees. The U.S. Diplomatic Security Service investigated the allegations against Mokhtare and presented the case to the Justice Department for prosecution, but "the case was declined for prosecution" states the document. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-12-14 21:50 |
| #2 Becoming a tool of MoveOn.org is not gonna do wonders for her credibility. And if she thinks they're doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, she'd be quite wrong. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-12-14 21:35 |
| #1 How on earth did a private contractor wake up in a baracks? |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-12-14 21:16 |