Good News: Jamie Leigh Jones' Rape Case against Cheney's Halliburton is Finally Going to Trial!!!

Jamie Leigh Jones (22), the Halliburton/KBR contractor who was gang raped by her Halliburton co-workers in Iraq and then imprisoned in a shipping container after she reported the attack to the company, is finally going to get her day in court.

Jones, a Houston, Texas woman, was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad. She said the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident. Jones was just 20-years old and in Iraq for just four days, when she was drugged and viciously gang-raped in 2005 by Halliburton/KBR co-workers, leaving her severely bruised and bleeding, with lacerations to her vagina and anus, her breast implants ruptured and her pectoral muscles torn. She required reconstructive surgery to repair her injuries, which left her breasts permanently disfigured and she will require additional operations.

When the effects of the date rape drug began to wear off, she found herself in her bunk, naked and in pain, finding one of her rapists, Halliburton firefighter, Charles Boartz sleeping at the bottom of her bed, unconcerned about suffering any consequences. When she asked him what happened, he admitted to having unprotected sex with her.

What happened next, illustrates how corporations and the government behave when they know they can operate outside the law and virtually get away with murder. Laws put in place primarily under the Bush administration, provided contractors in Iraq with immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law and by extension, U.S. law.

The Halliburton firefighters who raped her in the Baghdad Green Zone that day, realized the actions of their employer as well as their own actions, while working in Iraq, were completely outside the law. When they saw the pretty young Jones, they took what they wanted, unconstrained by criminal laws, which may have worked to curb their behavior. An examination by Army doctors showed multiple men raped her repeatedly, both vaginally and anally. Instead of offering assistance and medical treatment to the frightened Jones suffering from severe physical and emotional trauma, Halliburton/KBR only offered her threats and intimidation.

When her Halliburton/KBR employers learned of the rape, they went into damage control mode, essentially imprisoning Jones, placing her in a sparse shipping container, under armed guard, without medical treatment, food or water and did not allow her to leave, refusing her access to a phone.

Finally, after at least 24 hours without food or water, a guard let her use his cell phone and she was able to reach her father, “Dad, I’ve been raped. I don’t know what to do. I’m in this container, and I’m not able to leave,” said Jones. Her father was able to get help for his daughter and bring her home.

However, Halliburton/KBR failed to take any action against her attackers, and the Justice Department and military also failed to prosecute. Jones then tried to sue the company for failing to protect her. But thanks to an employment contract created during the tenure of former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney, Jones was forced into mandatory binding arbitration, a private forum where Halliburton hired the arbitrator, ensured all the proceedings were secret, and she had no right to appeal if she lost.

After 15 months in arbitration, Jones and her lawyer realized they were getting nowhere and went to court to fight the arbitration agreement in the hopes of bringing her case before a jury. Finally, this Tuesday, two years later, a federal court has sensibly agreed she can take her case to court. Let's hope that Jamie will finally receive the Justice she deserves!

Bush/Cheney's Favorite Contractor Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder

The Nation Reports - by Jeremy Scahill:
A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life."
In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting "illegal" or "unlawful" weapons into the country on Prince's private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.

The former employee, identified in the court documents as "John Doe #2," is a former member of Blackwater's management team, according to a source close to the case. Doe #2 alleges in a sworn declaration that, based on information provided to him by former colleagues, "it appears that Mr. Prince and his employees murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct." John Doe #2 says he worked at Blackwater for four years; his identity is concealed in the sworn declaration because he "fear[s] violence against me in retaliation for submitting this Declaration." He also alleges, "On several occasions after my departure from Mr. Prince's employ, Mr. Prince's management has personally threatened me with death and violence."

In a separate sworn statement, the former US marine who worked for Blackwater in Iraq alleges that he has "learned from my Blackwater colleagues and former colleagues that one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information about Erik Prince and Blackwater have been killed in suspicious circumstances." Identified as "John Doe #1," he says he "joined Blackwater and deployed to Iraq to guard State Department and other American government personnel." It is not clear if Doe #1 is still working with the company as he states he is "scheduled to deploy in the immediate future to Iraq." Like Doe #2, he states that he fears "violence" against him for "submitting this Declaration." No further details on the alleged murder(s) are provided.

Doe #2 states in the declaration that he has also provided the information contained in his statement "in grand jury proceedings convened by the United States Department of Justice." Federal prosecutors convened a grand jury in the aftermath of the September 16, 2007, Nisour Square shootings in Baghdad, which left seventeen Iraqis dead. Five Blackwater employees are awaiting trial on several manslaughter charges and a sixth, Jeremy Ridgeway, has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempting to commit manslaughter and is cooperating with prosecutors. It is not clear whether Doe #2 testified in front of the Nisour Square grand jury or in front of a separate grand jury.

...Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe". To that end, Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.

Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince's executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to "lay Hajiis out on cardboard." Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince's employees openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other Arabs, such as "ragheads" or "hajiis." Among the additional allegations made by Doe #1 is that "Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq." He states that he personally witnessed weapons being "pulled out" from dog food bags. Doe #2 alleges that "Prince and his employees arranged for the weapons to be polywrapped and smuggled into Iraq on Mr. Prince's private planes, which operated under the name Presidential Airlines," adding that Prince "generated substantial revenues from participating in the illegal arms trade."

Both individuals allege that Prince and Blackwater deployed individuals to Iraq who, in the words of Doe #1, "were not properly vetted and cleared by the State Department." Doe #2 adds that "Prince ignored the advice and pleas from certain employees, who sought to stop the unnecessary killing of innocent Iraqis." Doe #2 further states that some Blackwater officials overseas refused to deploy "unfit men" and sent them back to the US. Among the reasons cited by Doe #2 were "the men making statements about wanting to deploy to Iraq to 'kill ragheads' or achieve 'kills' or 'body counts,'" as well as "excessive drinking" and "steroid use." However, when the men returned to the US, according to Doe #2, "Prince and his executives would send them back to be deployed in Iraq with an express instruction to the concerned employees located overseas that they needed to 'stop costing the company money.'"

Doe #2 also says Prince "repeatedly ignored the assessments done by mental health professionals, and instead terminated those mental health professionals who were not willing to endorse deployments of unfit men." He says Prince and then-company president Gary Jackson "hid from Department of State the fact that they were deploying men to Iraq over the objections of mental health professionals and security professionals in the field," saying they "knew the men being deployed were not suitable candidates for carrying lethal weaponry, but did not care because deployments meant more money."

Doe #1 states that "Blackwater knew that certain of its personnel intentionally used excessive and unjustified deadly force, and in some instances used unauthorized weapons, to kill or seriously injure innocent Iraqi civilians." He concludes, "Blackwater did nothing to stop this misconduct." Doe #1 states that he "personally observed multiple incidents of Blackwater personnel intentionally using unnecessary, excessive and unjustified deadly force." He then cites several specific examples of Blackwater personnel firing at civilians, killing or "seriously" wounding them, and then failing to report the incidents to the State Department.

Doe #1 also alleges that "all of these incidents of excessive force were initially videotaped and voice recorded," but that "Immediately after the day concluded, we would watch the video in a session called a 'hot wash.' Immediately after the hotwashing, the video was erased to prevent anyone other than Blackwater personnel seeing what had actually occurred." Blackwater, he says, "did not provide the video to the State Department."

Doe #2 ..alleges that Prince "obtained illegal ammunition from an American company called LeMas. This company sold ammunition designed to explode after penetrating within the human body. Mr. Prince's employees repeatedly used this illegal ammunition in Iraq to inflict maximum damage on Iraqis."

Blackwater has gone through an intricate rebranding process in the twelve years it has been in business, changing its name and logo several times. Prince also has created more than a dozen affiliate companies, some of which are registered offshore and whose operations are shrouded in secrecy. According to Doe #2, "Prince created and operated this web of companies in order to obscure wrongdoing, fraud and other crimes."

"Blackwater is a law unto itself, both internationally and domestically. The question is why they operated with impunity. In addition to Blackwater, we should be questioning their patrons in the previous administration who funded and employed this organization. Blackwater wouldn't exist without federal patronage; these allegations should be thoroughly investigated," Kucinich said.

Breaking News: VP Cheney and Gonzo Indicted for Detention Center Abuse and Cover-Up

As I have frequently reported, the privately owned Private Detention Center Prisons are rife with abusive treatment of detainees, poor oversight and owned by Cronies of the Bush Administration!

Today, V.P. Cheney has been indicted for his association with his crony prison owner friends, their abuse and his role in former Attorney General Gonzales´cover-up!

ABC News reports:

McALLEN, TX -- A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers. The indictment criticizes Cheney's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees by working through the prison companies.
Gonzales is accused of using his position while in office to stop an investigation into abuses at the federal detention centers. Another indictment charges state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. with profiting from his public office by accepting honoraria from prison management companies.

Information is coming out slowly. I will provide updates as they are released.

BREAKING NEWS: IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER JUDGE IS NOW STANDING UP TO BUSH-CHENEY´S "RULE OF TYRANNY!" THE GITMO DETAINEES, MANY OF WHOM WERE HELD WITH NO CAUSE, ARE NOW BEING RELEASED! IS THE CHENEY REIGN OF TERROR OVER?

Judge orders release of 5 Gitmo detainees
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Washington Thursday ordered five Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prisoners released, saying "seven years is enough" in captivity. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, in the first ruling that carries out the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on detainee rights, said a single classified document the government used to hold the five wasn't convincing, Scotusblog.com reported. The government claimed, based on the document, the five -- plus one other detainee -- planned to travel to Afghanistan to participate in terrorist activities against U.S. and allied forces.