Haliburton, Rape, Iraq and Something New
Jamie Leigh Jones is suing, or at least attempting to sue, Halliburton and KBR for her gruesome rape, attack and coverup. While this blog doesn't blanch from being graphic when necessary, this one hit particularly close to home for some, so this warning. The descriptions might get a little blunt in places.
THAT should set off the Google bombs. In one of the more disturbing stories covered here in MidnightRanter, we have the story of Jaime Leigh Jones. Ms. Jones was just another young contractor working in Iraq. Not a military operator kind of contractor, but an administrative assistant and later firefighter. She was 19 working for Overseas Administrative Services, Ltd, which was a sub-contractor to Kellog-Brown-Root (KBR) which was a sub-contractor part of Halliburton, until Halliburton spun it off. She had problems with her boss in Texas, so she was transferred to their operations in Iraq. One night while she was in Iraq, she was at a party and given a roofie-laced drink. She was viciously gang raped. After she was viciously raped (by vicious, I mean vaginally and anally to the point of severe bleeding, one of her breast implants was ruptured and she was drugged), she was locked in a shipping container with no food or water, just a small bed. One of the men working there saw her and gave her his cell phone. She was able to call her father in Texas and tell him of her imprisonment. Not sure of what to do next, he contacted his congressman, Ted Poe (R-TX-2) who was then able to contact the embassy in Baghdad who then staged a rescue to get the woman out of there. She was then tended to by Army physician Jodi Schultz, who performed a rape kit, an investigation and examination of a woman when rape is suspected. It was completed, but then it was grabbed by Halliburton employees. When the kit turned up a year and a half later, many of the key parts were removed that would have been used at trial. All of that was troubled since, she may not be allowed to sue because of something she signed, so she might have been in trouble. Until now.
Technically, for legality sake, Halliburton is not the owner of KBR at this point. However, at the time of the attack, Halliburton was the corporate parent and it was their employee who helped engage in the cover up, so we're gonna blame them too. It was KBR and Halliburton employees who are accused of raping, and covering up, Jamie Leigh Jones. It was a horrific attack, video of her describing her ordeal can be found here. When she got back to the United States, Representative Poe held hearings (video here) and is still calling for some kind of justice. She is pushing for prosecution of the people who raped her. The problem is, there are some legal issues about who has legal jurisdiction over this case. There was an order of immunity for American contractors operating in Iraq from the Iraqi government. Since they're not on American soil, there has been come fight there. Except for some other parts of American law that say, basically, since they are operating in our interests and we ordered them there, we are responsible for them if no one else is.
The judge ruling that the case may go forward has not gotten enough media attention. It's not important only for this case, but for a whole host of other issues. After all, if Halliburton and KBR can be sued on this specific issue, then the precedent is set that they can be sued. The other telling fact is that the Justice Department hasn't done anything about this, despite being subpoenaed by Congress to answer on this issue. So, if media pressure keeps up, heads may keep rolling on this. This is the kind of thing that grabs attention, and rightfully so. When Congress acts with media attention, things change. Public policy is a reactive force in that it doesn't do anything well on its own but once the public decides that something needs to be done about an issue, then something will get done about the issue. As the judge weakens the immunity that KBR and Halliburton had been clinging to, Congress issues subpoenas and hold hearings into the possible abuse of power by contractors in Iraq. It is a perfect storm of problems for them, and it couldn't happen a minute too soon.
She has founded the Jamie's Foundation, a foundation for helping other women who have been victimized in this manner. That's probably the grossest thing about all of this, there are others. The British have been having problems with the same company doing the same thing to other women. So, at this point, if they don't get hit by American courts, they'll get nailed by British courts. There are other women who have been victimized in a horrible manner and they also need justice. If not justice, then acts of government and law will have to suffice. First, that means making sure KBR and Halliburton can be held legally liable for their acts and the acts of their employees. Hopefully, with new reforms sweeping the Pentagon, contracting reform will be soon in the outing, as well as rescinding the immunity for contractors. There is some logic to not letting them be open to every kind of lawsuit imaginable as the nuisance lawsuits would drown out every other form of work they may attempt to do, but some kind of accountability has to be put into place.
It goes, almost, without saying that rape is a horrible thing. What makes this case even more odious is the coverup. The rape kit, a piece of evidence if this were a criminal investigation, was taken by corporate employees. It wasn't found again until almost a year and a half later by a State Department worker, and when it was found, all the photographs that were taken were removed and other pieces of evidence. It is unknown, by me at least, if the conclusions of the test were left in there, but odds are whatever is left in there was measured out to be just a hair less than would be needed to secure conviction at trial. That is an organized means to avoid prosecution by the government through illegal actions. At least three people were involved, so that makes it a legal conspiracy. If they can show this was part of corporate policy, then that means this was a corporation engaging in a conspiracy, which may make them liable under RICO convictions. Unfortunately, this is not truly enough punishment for what they did, but that awaits elsewhere.
Now, if you need me, I'm gonna call my sister.
So it is written, so do I see it.
THAT should set off the Google bombs. In one of the more disturbing stories covered here in MidnightRanter, we have the story of Jaime Leigh Jones. Ms. Jones was just another young contractor working in Iraq. Not a military operator kind of contractor, but an administrative assistant and later firefighter. She was 19 working for Overseas Administrative Services, Ltd, which was a sub-contractor to Kellog-Brown-Root (KBR) which was a sub-contractor part of Halliburton, until Halliburton spun it off. She had problems with her boss in Texas, so she was transferred to their operations in Iraq. One night while she was in Iraq, she was at a party and given a roofie-laced drink. She was viciously gang raped. After she was viciously raped (by vicious, I mean vaginally and anally to the point of severe bleeding, one of her breast implants was ruptured and she was drugged), she was locked in a shipping container with no food or water, just a small bed. One of the men working there saw her and gave her his cell phone. She was able to call her father in Texas and tell him of her imprisonment. Not sure of what to do next, he contacted his congressman, Ted Poe (R-TX-2) who was then able to contact the embassy in Baghdad who then staged a rescue to get the woman out of there. She was then tended to by Army physician Jodi Schultz, who performed a rape kit, an investigation and examination of a woman when rape is suspected. It was completed, but then it was grabbed by Halliburton employees. When the kit turned up a year and a half later, many of the key parts were removed that would have been used at trial. All of that was troubled since, she may not be allowed to sue because of something she signed, so she might have been in trouble. Until now.
Technically, for legality sake, Halliburton is not the owner of KBR at this point. However, at the time of the attack, Halliburton was the corporate parent and it was their employee who helped engage in the cover up, so we're gonna blame them too. It was KBR and Halliburton employees who are accused of raping, and covering up, Jamie Leigh Jones. It was a horrific attack, video of her describing her ordeal can be found here. When she got back to the United States, Representative Poe held hearings (video here) and is still calling for some kind of justice. She is pushing for prosecution of the people who raped her. The problem is, there are some legal issues about who has legal jurisdiction over this case. There was an order of immunity for American contractors operating in Iraq from the Iraqi government. Since they're not on American soil, there has been come fight there. Except for some other parts of American law that say, basically, since they are operating in our interests and we ordered them there, we are responsible for them if no one else is.
The judge ruling that the case may go forward has not gotten enough media attention. It's not important only for this case, but for a whole host of other issues. After all, if Halliburton and KBR can be sued on this specific issue, then the precedent is set that they can be sued. The other telling fact is that the Justice Department hasn't done anything about this, despite being subpoenaed by Congress to answer on this issue. So, if media pressure keeps up, heads may keep rolling on this. This is the kind of thing that grabs attention, and rightfully so. When Congress acts with media attention, things change. Public policy is a reactive force in that it doesn't do anything well on its own but once the public decides that something needs to be done about an issue, then something will get done about the issue. As the judge weakens the immunity that KBR and Halliburton had been clinging to, Congress issues subpoenas and hold hearings into the possible abuse of power by contractors in Iraq. It is a perfect storm of problems for them, and it couldn't happen a minute too soon.
She has founded the Jamie's Foundation, a foundation for helping other women who have been victimized in this manner. That's probably the grossest thing about all of this, there are others. The British have been having problems with the same company doing the same thing to other women. So, at this point, if they don't get hit by American courts, they'll get nailed by British courts. There are other women who have been victimized in a horrible manner and they also need justice. If not justice, then acts of government and law will have to suffice. First, that means making sure KBR and Halliburton can be held legally liable for their acts and the acts of their employees. Hopefully, with new reforms sweeping the Pentagon, contracting reform will be soon in the outing, as well as rescinding the immunity for contractors. There is some logic to not letting them be open to every kind of lawsuit imaginable as the nuisance lawsuits would drown out every other form of work they may attempt to do, but some kind of accountability has to be put into place.
It goes, almost, without saying that rape is a horrible thing. What makes this case even more odious is the coverup. The rape kit, a piece of evidence if this were a criminal investigation, was taken by corporate employees. It wasn't found again until almost a year and a half later by a State Department worker, and when it was found, all the photographs that were taken were removed and other pieces of evidence. It is unknown, by me at least, if the conclusions of the test were left in there, but odds are whatever is left in there was measured out to be just a hair less than would be needed to secure conviction at trial. That is an organized means to avoid prosecution by the government through illegal actions. At least three people were involved, so that makes it a legal conspiracy. If they can show this was part of corporate policy, then that means this was a corporation engaging in a conspiracy, which may make them liable under RICO convictions. Unfortunately, this is not truly enough punishment for what they did, but that awaits elsewhere.
Now, if you need me, I'm gonna call my sister.
So it is written, so do I see it.