Privatization + Deregulation = Lawlessness & Thuggery

I don't see it anywhere on my Google headlines today but the blogosphere is abuzz with the tale of a young woman who was repeatedly raped by her coworkers and then, to cover it up, held captive by her employer. Now that this has come out there is not a scintilla of hope that anyone will be prosecuted for this crime.

We are talking about American citizens operating in an environment where no law applies to them--not American law, not Iraqi law, not the uniform code of military justice.

We are talking about Halliburton/KBR and the problem that arises when you hire people and turn them loose without oversight.

We are talking about what the Bush Administration (that fears neither God nor man) has been so hard at work creating: a lawless environment where power and wealth for the few mean misery and hopelessness for the many, and isn't that just too damned bad? What are you going to do about it? Can't bring them to a court martial. Can't put them to an Iraqi or an American trial. Nobody's going to enforce any subpoenas on their bosses and congressional "leadership" won't consider impeaching the folks ultimately responsible.

Bush and Cheney just assume the American People can eat shit and bay at the moon; nobody is going to be held accountable.

MissLaura has an article on this. She begins with this horrifying question: "Can you imagine being gang-raped and then imprisoned by your employer?"

ABC News reports the story:

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.

Her father, on learning of the situation, contacted Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and they talked to the State Department who sent agents from the U.S. Embassy to rescue her.

There was a rape kit with all the evidence (I will spare you the details) but it was turned over to ... wait for it... KBR.

I don't have to tell you that the evidence disappeared, do I?

State Department is making no comments.

Justice Department has not, in two years, pursued it.

Nobody is giving any answers.

Civil litigation seems to be the only remaining recourse. However....

KBR has moved for Jones' claim to be heard in private arbitration, instead of a public courtroom. It says her employment contract requires it.

In arbitration, there is no public record nor transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Jones' claims would not be heard before a judge and jury.

You will not be surprised to learn that Halliburton wins about 80% of all cases against it. I am not convinced it is because of the rightness of their cause. They don't think they should be named in this because they have since divested of KBR.

Now let's see, how did Halliburton/KBR get all those lucrative contracts in Iraq without any bidding? Contracts they often did not fulfill or did so with malfeasance and still got paid? Oh, yes, their former CEO is now Vice President. How could I forget?

Hmm, and how did Bush choose Cheney? He asked Cheney to locate a good running mate and Cheney looked over the field and thought he should be it. How convenient.

Satan is a Dick Cheney wannabe.

We live in an era of lawlessness and it begins at the top.
--the BB