Woman allegedly raped by her coworkers in Iraq contractor corporation

Okay, I know bashing the contractors like Black Water working over in Iraq has become a pet project for the media lately. Even so, consider this. A woman claims she was drugged, raped and then threatened by her employer, KBR, while working over in Iraq. The government and KBR then allegedly took steps to cover it up.

While I might have been tempted to dismiss this as 'too crazy to be true' at first, a couple of things about this story that aren't being disputed strike me as odd:

-Her local congressman, whom her father contacted to try to help her when she was supposedly imprisoned by her employer is behind her (and he's a Republican).

-The Congressman's first step was to contact the State Department over in Iraq, who in fact did retreive her from a locked container which was being guarded.

-The employer in question, KBR, is insisting on the right to private mediation with sealed records and no judge.


Then again, a couple of other things strike me as odd:

-The woman was 20 years old at the time. What was she doing working for an oil services industry in a war zone?

-If the story is true, why would the State Department have gone and gotten her? If the government was really interested in helping KBR cover up a gang rape, wouldn't they just have come back to her congressman and said they couldn't find her?

Something smells very fishy here on several levels, and if it's true, well, shame on KBR and their employees. And shame on our government, for helping them cover it up. And if it's not true, shame on her, and shame on her congressman. Does anybody know what the hell is going on over there?

If her story proves true, it just hearkens back to the problems we've all been aware of for years. Lack of accountability, lack of oversight, etc. etc. etc.

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

-The woman was 20 years old at the time. What was she doing working for an oil services industry in a war zone?

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she was probably fresh out of college. there are plenty of women soldiers in iraq around that age. what's odd about her working for one of the profiteers there?

the charges of a 'US government' cover up do seem odd, though, considering the state dept went and got her from her box.

but 2 years does seem protracted.

then again, these things probably take time.

then again, the state dept could have been acting before some higher office in the govt decided to support kbr.

if some entity in the 'govt' really wanted to cover this up, wouldn't they just enforce the arbitration clause in her contract? but i guess her lawyers could challenge it as unconscionable, and that issue would go before a judge at least. but kbr is already getting more attention than that from the abc story..

too complicated for me. :wall:

She was 20, she wouldn't be out of college, unless all she got was an associates degree. So, most likely, she was a roughneck, building pipelines/pumps/etectera. Seems like a rough job in a very dangerous neck of the woods for a 20 year old lass.

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

She was 20, she wouldn't be out of college, unless all she got was an associates degree. So, most likely, she was a roughneck, building pipelines/pumps/etectera. Seems like a rough job in a very dangerous neck of the woods for a 20 year old lass.

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i've known 20 year olds that have completed 4-year college. anyway, your characterization makes more sense. but again, there are 21 year old women dying from ieds and hostile fire in iraq right now. jamie's job was hardly more dangerous.

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

She was 20, she wouldn't be out of college, unless all she got was an associates degree. So, most likely, she was a roughneck, building pipelines/pumps/etectera. Seems like a rough job in a very dangerous neck of the woods for a 20 year old lass.

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In Western Australia you start University at 17 and it is one of the primary places for geophysics so you could have a degree in science (geophysics) in 3 years. 20 years old with a BSc. Of course if you are in a fast track you could start at 16 and graduate at 19 OR if you are one of the smartest start at 15 like one of the guys in the Geophysics course I did was when he originally started (dropped out of Engineering, became a car mechanic, then came back in his mid twenties to do Geophysics).

Once graduated those young geos are the ones who get the field work assignments. And they get some dangerous ones too. One of my co-workers first jobs was in the Philippines highlands and they had to negotiate with machine gun armed communists (apparently the female leader a) had a degree, b) was quite cute, c) didn't stop him from invoking forced majeure on his contract and bugging out). I myself had to sit in the Sumatra mountain jungle encircled by coffee and rubber plantation owners armed with parangs who wanted more money and assurances before we continued exploration.

When it comes to oil and minerals there are a lot of dangerous environments young people are working in all the time

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Originally Posted by Lemur

If her story proves true, it just hearkens back to the problems we've all been aware of for years. Lack of accountability, lack of oversight, etc. etc. etc.

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Spoken like someone who's never been there. Straws are meant for drinking not looking through. Tell us what knowledge you have about the contracting process and oversight.

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Originally Posted by Vladimir

Spoken like someone who's never been there. Straws are meant for drinking not looking through.

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Come out of left field much?

Yea, with a slow pop-fly (too slow on the edit *sorry* :shrug:).

Vladimir, I have the same knowledge that anyone who follows the news closely has. No-bid contracts are a matter of record. Cost overruns are a matter of record. Contract bilking and falsified billing are a matter of record.

I don't mean to hijack this thread into a tedious discussion of the last five years' worth of evidence and investigations into contractor behavior in Iraq, but if you're setting yourself up as having some sort of privileged or special information, please share.

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

Does anybody know what the hell is going on over there?

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No. At least I don't.

But I think you've reaped what you've sown here. If you employ mercenaries to do your dirty work, and you have a habit of covering stuff up, then this is what you get. You've only heard about this story because she's American. Lord help the Iraqi's and everybody else who's been put at the mercy of these tax-funded Halliburton thugs.

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According to her lawsuit, Jones was raped by "several attackers who first drugged her, then repeatedly raped and injured her, both physically and emotionally."

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

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Random news from this week

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The CIA has confirmed that it destroyed at least two video tapes showing the interrogation of terror suspects. According to the intelligence agency, the tapes were destroyed to protect the identity of CIA agents and because they no longer had intelligence value.

But civil liberties lawyers have refused to accept this, saying the CIA previously denied such tapes existed. They say the move appears to be an attempt to destroy evidence that could have brought CIA agents to account.

The New York Times, which broke the story, quotes current and former government officials as saying the CIA destroyed the tapes in 2005 as it faced Congressional and legal scrutiny about its secret detention programme.

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Originally Posted by Don

-The woman was 20 years old at the time. What was she doing working for an oil services industry in a war zone?

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Why? Would you ask this question if she was a 20 year guy?

If the claims can be substantiated this is a mega problem for everyone.

Oh, no, it's not a hijack. It's linked to the OP.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

No-bid contracts are a matter of record.

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Is it the fact that they were no bid contracts or was it something called reality? Two important factors: Urgency and Capacity. The no-bid, neocon, war for oil, Chaney's buddies thing ignores the fact that the work was needed immediately and on a large scale in a combat zone.

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Cost overruns are a matter of record.

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:inquisitive: Clearly you follow the news which feeds your bias. Government = Cost Overruns.

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Contract bilking and falsified billing are a matter of record.

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How did they become part of the record? Perhaps because an oversight process is in place, hmmn? (In addition) Do you think that the reason for so much media is in Iraq is for pro-US propaganda purposes? (:stupido2: I may have to work on the grammar here)

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if you're setting yourself up as having some sort of privileged or special information, please share.

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My secret sources are...wait for it...teh internet...television...and radio (to hell with traditional news papers). Yea, that's about it. These things are important to me so I keep track of them. This "we've been aware of" garbage is like "we should get out of Iraq." You're setting yourself up as an authority on contracting issues and I would like to know of a regulation you've read concerning the process. Perhaps you're a contracting officer for the Corps of Engineers? How do "we" know of this (yes precious, we knows it)?

I hate splitting posts but yours was ready for dicing and slicing :duel:.

Snagged from Louis' post in the Kosovo thread:

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Monday, 10 December 2007, 14:31 GMT

Rape case ruling shocks Australia

A judge's decision not to jail nine men guilty of raping a 10-year-old girl in an Aboriginal community has triggered outrage in Australia.
The offenders were either placed on probation or given suspended sentences for the 2005 rape in the Aurukun settlement, in northern Queensland.

In her ruling, Judge Sarah Bradley told them that the victim "probably agreed to have sex with all of you".

A review of sexual abuse sentences in Aboriginal Queensland has been ordered.

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We need more oversight on those Australian aboriginal contractors!

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Originally Posted by Vladimir

Is it the fact that they were no bid contracts or was it something called reality? Two important factors: Urgency and Capacity. The no-bid, neocon, war for oil, Chaney's buddies thing ignores the fact that the work was needed immediately and on a large scale in a combat zone.

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Your reasoning would stand for, say, the first year of conflict. After that no-bid becomes kinda questionable.

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Originally Posted by Vladimir

Clearly you follow the news which feeds your bias. Government = Cost Overruns.

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So we should never worry about contractors robbing teh governments because all governments are thieving? And what, exactly, is my "bias"? I'm dying to know.

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Originally Posted by Vladimir

How did they become part of the record? Perhaps because an oversight process is in place, hmmn?

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In other words, if a thief is eventually caught, that means the justice system is adequate, nay, perfect, and we need not be concerned?

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Originally Posted by Vladimir

This "we've been aware of" garbage is like "we should get out of Iraq." You're setting yourself up as an authority on contracting issues and I would like to know of a regulation you've read concerning the process. Perhaps you're a contracting officer for the Corps of Engineers? How do "we" know of this (yes precious, we knows it)?

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Indulge in hyperbole much?

I'm sorry the use of first person plural offended you so deeply, and I certainly wasn't trying to make myself out as some sort of special authority. I have never made any special claims about my knowledge of Iraq, and I kinda resent you pretending I have. Moreover, I'm not really clear why you're going off as though I set myself up as an expert, which I obviously did not. I'm not even clear how it's relevant to the discussion, except that it allows you to venture off on higher and hotter flights of rhetoric.

"Perhaps you're a contractive officer for the Corps of Engineers?" See my post about left field. What exactly are you saying? Are you suggesting that I ought to be, to comment at all on the subject? Or are you saying that unless I am intimately tied to procuring and dispensing contracts I should shut the hell up? Lower the volume and increase the logic, please.

You seem to be suggesting that anyone who believes that the contracting process in Iraq has been troublesome is a lefty victim of groupthink propaganda. What's more, you're casting these little poison darts without linking to much of anything, backing anything up, or tossing anything out but your own heated rhetoric.

If you want to duel on the subject, how about this: Stake out a clear position and defend it before you launch into the ad hominem. Then we can talk.

-edit-

And if you're gonna quote Gollum, you can do so directly, you know.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

If you want to duel on the subject, how about this: Stake out a clear position and defend it before you launch into the ad hominem. Then we can talk.

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Talk about taking the fun out of everything......




:devilish:

Was she hot?

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Originally Posted by Devastatin Dave

Was she hot?

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I believe that would be a "yes" ...

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...ia/DevDave.jpg

Fortunately, the thick woolen sweater should save you from the wrath of Pappy.

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Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh

Fortunately, the thick woolen sweater should save you from the wrath of Pappy.

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Probably a sunblocker for Iraq. :stupido2:

Apart from that I'm inclined to agree with Louis.

Also the thing about those companies doing private mediation in secret without any oversight is quite scary, could just as well join Scientology. :skull:

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

-The woman was 20 years old at the time. What was she doing working for an oil services industry in a war zone?

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While I agree it's unusual, I don't think it's impossible. At 21 working in the oil industry, I had been on drill rigs and to countries that are pretty close to Iraq in terms of stability (Angola, I'm looking at you).


Vladimir, I think everyone with any knowledge of the situation can agree that remote aboriginal communities in Australia are completely messed up. I don't particularly see how it relates to this thread, except as a smokescreen of hyperbole from you.

It seems this case is not isolated:

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Another KBR Rape Claim Brings Scrutiny


Congress is asking questions about another ex-employee of government contracting firm KBR who claims she was raped in Iraq.

Letters to the Pentagon and the Justice Department today from Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. underscore congressional concern about a second alleged assault, this time of a woman from Florida who reportedly worked for a KBR subsidiary in Ramadi, Iraq in 2005.

More.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

Lack of accountability, lack of oversight, etc. etc. etc.

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Well Lemur pretty much gets the blue ribbon on this one fella's, I think his post sums up the problem rather simply.

A sad chapter in a sad story. Defense Department says, "What you want us to look at this too?"

Pentagon Won't Probe KBR Rape Charges

The Defense Department's top watchdog has declined to investigate allegations that an American woman working under an Army contract in Iraq was raped by her co-workers.

The case of former Halliburton/KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones gained national attention last month. An ABC News investigation revealed how an earlier investigation into Jones' alleged gang-rape in 2005 had not resulted in any prosecution, and that neither Jones nor Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been able to get answers from the Bush administration on the state of her case.

In letters to lawmakers, DoD Inspector General Claude Kicklighter said that because the Justice Department still considers the investigation into Jones' case open, there is no need for him to look into the matter.

"[T]he U.S. Justice Department has issued a statement that they are investigating the allegations," wrote Kicklighter's office to Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who had requested he look into the matter. "No further investigation by this agency into the allegations made by [Jones] is warranted."

"We're not satisfied with that," a Nelson spokesman said.

Jones' lawyers also professed disappointment. "How could the Department of Defense refuse to help [Jones]?'" asked attorney Stephanie Morris, who noted that the criminal investigation into Jones' allegations has been going on for more than two and a half years, without apparent results.

Despite deferring to the Justice Department, Kicklighter's office told Nelson it was willing to pursue other questions Nelson raised about Jones' case. Kicklighter agreed to explore "whether and why" a U.S. Army doctor handed to KBR security officials the results of Jones' medical examination, a so-called "rape kit," which would have contained evidence of the crime if it had occurred.

In a separate letter, Kicklighter's office said that the State Department had said its security officials had Jones' rape kit in their possession at one point.

The State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security told Kicklighter "evidence in the rape kit was collected by a U.S. Army doctor and was later provided to [the Bureau of Diplomatic Security]," the IG's office wrote to Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Alaska, who had asked about Jones' case.

An Army spokesman referred questions about the rape kit to the State Department, which declined to provide new information on the case.

Halliburton/KBR, a Houston, Texas-based government contractor once led by Vice President Dick Cheney, employed Jones until shortly after her alleged assault. Halliburton spun off KBR last year. Jones has since filed suit against KBR and Halliburton. Halliburton says they have been wrongly named in the suit; KBR has maintained that "the safety and security of all employees remains KBR's top priority," it said in a statement. "Our commitment in this regard is unwavering."

Nelson and other lawmakers have also requested information on rape allegations by Jones and others from the Department of State, which initially investigated Jones' allegations, and the Department of Justice. To date, none have reported receiving information.