Talked to a guy who worked at a military hospital stateside.
Said he's been hearing about a lot of cases of dehyradition among female soldiers.
Apparently, many sexual assaults happen in the latrine areas, so they don't drink water so they won't have to go to the latrine.
I can't guarantee his story is accurate, but I can guarantee he worked for a military hospital.
Tomm
· 1 year ago
Why do women go to war zones? Surely they know what is coming? No woman with any sense would walk US streets at night so why go to fucking Bagdad?
I feel very sorry for her but WTF? The realities are that war zones are no place for women. There has never been law in a war zone.
Get them the hell out of there!
theWalrus
· 1 year ago
Everything the Republicans touch becomes a disaster. Another horrible story on top of a million other horrible stories. The real truth of the Bush/McCain war in Iraq will eventually come to light. They won't be held accountable.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Didn't the Bushies shut down the last case against contractor rapists?
Sage24
· 1 year ago
This is the HELL that has been unleashed by Bush and Cheney. Nearly a million innocent people dead, more than a million suffering people are displaced, and the Iraqi people now realize they were better off under Saddam Hussein. At least they were able to go to the market places, and look for jobs, without the fear of being blown up. Cheney has made sure that his buddies like KBR, Halliburton and others, have profited so handsomely, because of this bloody war, without any end.
Who speaks for that poor family who was killed, after their young daughter was brutallyl raped, killed and burned? Who speaks for the families who were wiped out in their homes, because our troops "did not know" who really shot at them? Who speaks for the innocent children who happened to be at the marketplace when a suicide bomber blew himself up? The Bush administration, including Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice (and she wants to run as VP?) and the members of Congress who voted for this bloody war, should be held responsible for the massacres, rapes, deaths and horrible injuries that are still going on in Iraq.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
BTW;
Not sure why Kos apologized for his comment about defense contractors.
If it was up to me, we'd pull our military out and leave those creeps behind to get what they've been giving to others.
Tom3
· 1 year ago
Chimpy has been sending women into Iraq for 5 years now. And they are driving trucks in combat zones and getting killed or mutilated.
Somebody did a documentary about women soldiers coming home from Iraq to their families...missing limbs. It is a real heart-wrencher.
Goddamn Chimpy, Cheney, McInsane and the entire Repuke party!!
jimfromthefoothills
· 1 year ago
These are the people who run America. Today I agree with Rev Wright.
Tom3
· 1 year ago
The BR in KBR stands for Brutal Rape.
Tom3
· 1 year ago
Blackwater just got another contract in Iraq. The Iraqi government was not consulted.
I bet the Iraqi government is not consulted about KBR either.
Iraq is not a sovereign nation. The Surge was a failure. We lost the war.
Smartypants
· 1 year ago
Pity she didn't just take his gun and shoot his balls off while he was passed out. That's the closest to justice she's likely to get with these despicable contractors.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
Permalinkmirth 7 minutes ago 1 point Please login to rate.
Tomm,
I wasn't aware that female soldiers have the option of not serving where the military sends them.
So, along with its stupidity, your comment is very offensive. ----
true, SOLDIERS don't have a choice... and I'm not standing with tomm but...
she was a KBR contractor. man or woman, something terrible happens to them over there?? I feel bad about WHAT happened, but I still think working for KBR kinda taints them as human beings in my mind.
Sorry, I couldn't work for halliburton or any of its ilk... no matter what I was paid.
I suppose its called 'moral values'??
jakethesnake
· 1 year ago
LOL, I'm sure the dems in congress will jump right on this one. They are really good at corporate oversite!
interlude
· 1 year ago
KBR, the vice-president's profit motive
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
I teach at a private college. This last summer the school went under new management. Teachers had to sign new employment documents. One of these documents was an arbitration clause. I told my husband, a prosecutor, I was uncomfortable signing this document. He told me not to worry about signing it because if I feel under duress in signing it, ie: I might be fired, it becomes meaningless. However, I hid the unsigned arbitration clause in the middle of the other documents and have not heard a word about the unsigned document.
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
"I feel very sorry for her but WTF? The realities are that war zones are no place for women. There has never been law in a war zone."
Tomm, you you think it's fair game women not only have the same hazards as men, but pile on rape by their coworkers? WTF, to use your words.
jr
· 1 year ago
The Norquistian privatization fetish has emptied our treasury and bankrupted our gloval reputation and CNBC craves more
Morpheus
· 1 year ago
An America Karol, I assume Tomm believes the raping of women and children whether they are civilians, contractors or military personel is all part of the game of war. Very stupid comment Tomm.
Morpheus
· 1 year ago
jr, the MSM knuckleheads keep praising privatization and deregulation because they and their elite handlers are the ones prospering.
Chris From Maine
· 1 year ago
something tells me this isnt an isolated incident.
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
I wonder how many men would be willing to go into a war zone if they couldn't trust their fellow workers not to anally rape them. This might be something for men to ponder. It's one thing to dodge bullets, bombs, and knives from the enemy, but another to have to dodge your coworkers. It's sad commentary on how little we have evolved as a species.
AdrianBrowne
· 1 year ago
Privatization of defense is really the worst thing. It shouldn't be a "job." In a democracy it has to be something that regular Americans are forced to do it do if you have to go to war at all.
Privatization makes going to war too easy.
Another thing I'd like to see is some prohibition of private armies (like Blackwater) on U.S. soil. None. They don't belong in a democracy.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
mirth 9
Soundboy_Jeff,
You are right. I was so angered by this post that I didn't comprehend that the woman was a civilian KBR employee rather than a soldier. And I also agree that choosing to work for KBR is despicable; one assumes she, like her male counterparts, was doing it for the salary and perhaps for the adventure and maybe even a sense of patriotism.
But that does not negate Tomm's implication that for their own safety females should stay away from dangerous situations. Such thinking is 'burka-like' in that females should confine their activities because males might harm them if they choose to enter what has traditionally been a male world. This is the very worst of sexism and such thinking allows seemingly endless violence to continue against females and girls with 'they asked for it' mentality. It is placing blame on victim. ---
Agreed... part of the issue I suppose is the 'old boy' network that permiates the military (not just the military, anywhere in American life where jobs were traditionally done by men).
I think the 'get the women out of there!' arguement is a crock of shit. If they're being raped, the system is fucked up... and obviously nothing is done about it because it keeps happening.
I didn't want to come across as sexist... if it were a guy working for KBR being raped with a bazooka, I'd still feel the same way about him. He shouldn't have to worry about being raped (nobody should), but he's still a piece of shit in my book because he works for KBR in the first place.
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
"Privatization of defense is really the worst thing"
Adrian, I couldn't agree more. If America thinks we need to go to war, America should send their family members. Without that, going to war is too easy.
PeteWa
· 1 year ago
I really have to question the morality and sense of anyone working for a company like KBR. My instinct is that most, if not all of these employees, knew this kind of shit goes on (it is certainly not a revelation to me), but they figured they would be on the dishing out (as actual participants, or as passive observers) and not receiving end of this kind of abuse. These are people who decided to become mercenaries, no matter how nicely they want to dress up their "work titles".
That being said, the attackers should face life in prison, what was done is monstrous, just hardly surprising. What happened to the women (and many others) should not have happened... even when working with the rabid dogs who comprise the morally bankrupt KBR brownshirts.
lilybart
· 1 year ago
No respect for her even though she was wearing the uniform of an American Soldier. Nope, she is just another ho to take.
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
This story is more than OUTRAGEOUS! Congressional investigations are ABSOLUTELY CALLED FOR! The American people need stories like this aired PUBLICALLY and OPENLY. We need to stop calling ourselves a free country until stuff like this is thoroughly heard, and those responsible punished. Corporatist protectionism doesn't equal Freedom and Democracy.
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
One thing I'm not understanding is the whole scenario of her "screaming and screaming while her coworker held her hand." I'm definitely interested as to what happened before? What brought them to the scenario where she was being anally raped while her coworker "held her hand?" Why would she try to rouse the guy who raped her? If I had been anally raped by soldier, I would think when I "came to" I would jump up and run screaming from the room. I don't think I'd try to rouse my attacker. Its just a very weird scenario.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
PeteWa 2
That being said, the attackers should face life in prison, what was done is monstrous, just hardly surprising. What happened to the women (and many others) should not have happened... even when working with the rabid dogs who comprise the morally bankrupt KBR brownshirts. ---
Agreed... maybe legislation, a sort of 'friendly fire' law stating that any criminal assault among US troops/contractors is punishable by mandatory life sentence.
If the recourse for the victim is dubious now... it needs to be corrected with HARSH punishment for perpetrators, military or non-military.
Mil
· 1 year ago
Tomm, Why don't men have the restraint to act like a responsible and compassionate human being and not an overgrown, unqualified-to-be-human, walking bags of testosterone? (sorry to the majority of guys who aren't). This woman went to do a job, just like most women do everyday.
My 65-year old mother was mugged at 2 in the afternoon, about a block away from her house, in a good neighborhood mind you. What did she do wrong to deserve that? Is the attack her fault or the guy who did it? Should she stay inside for the rest of her life? Forgive women for expecting men to act like normal human beings and not hurt them. Forgive women for expecting men to act like normal human beings and, at the very least, throw the scum who do commit these crimes in jail.
Being in a war zone and without "female companionship" isn't a license to get it wherever and however you can. Put these guys in a room with the family members of these woman and see if they can make valid justifications for their behavior. Let them tell these women's fathers or husbands that what they did was ok and see if they don't end up with a broken arm or two. Try to make these womens children understand why their mother was hurt like that. "Boys will be boys", or they deserve what they got, or alls fair in a war zone, wouldn't fly in a million years......
lilybart
· 1 year ago
There is a kind of Iraqi justice that I would pay for, if you know what I mean, if I were her.
Rab
· 1 year ago
So much for the animals in uniform, I was an MP in the Army, they have criminals just like civilian life and looks like they are gonna add to the pile:
How can a "nondisclosure" form apply to a criminal act? I smell a rat.
KBR or any other contractor is not above the law. That story just infuriated me...I would never return to that job, either, money or not.
mike31c
· 1 year ago
Absolutely disgusting and disgraceful conduct by Contractors working in Iraq for KBR. The bigger disgrace is why Congress continued to allow KBR to exist as a corporation in the first place as this is not the first time KBR contractors allowed this conduct to occur on more then one occasion?
Another concern to Americans in general: This is not the only military contractor to allow such conduct in Iraq. This recent incident only highlights KBR and only because it was reported. You can bet there are other "incidents' out there and we don't know about it because the victims there were silenced.
And if it's not the actions of the scum they hired as contractors, it's the contractor companies actions themselves.
And just recently, the US Army can't be sure of the quality of some of their recent body armor purchases because someone didn't fill out the proper paperwork! http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/...
And then there is Bell/Boeing with their boondoggle the V-22 Osprey with an engine they are making claims needs to be replaced faster then anticipated. http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,164275...
Don't forget that Boeing just recently lost their Air Force contract to Northrup for new fuel tankers because they could not meet the demands of the Air Force.
I am wondering why we are spending billions on these contractors/contracts when all the US Military is getting are junk or half-assed products that is giving everyone in this country a false sense of security?!?!?
chuck
· 1 year ago
My absolutely sincere advice to any woman sexually assaulted in this manner is to take a gun and find these offenders and kill them. I fyou cannot find them then kill the KBR official nearest you. Since the law is so murky about jurisdiction and prosecution then let it be murky for her actions as well.
janethanks
· 1 year ago
Shame on us ....
mirth
· 1 year ago
Tomm,
I wasn't aware that female soldiers have the option of not serving where the military sends them.
So, along with its stupidity, your comment is very offensive.
mirth
· 1 year ago
Soundboy_Jeff,
Thanks for your thoughtful response. No one here, especially me, would think of you as sexist.
Strides forwards in equality of all people have been corrupted by the bastards in power. The very worst of our population has been in control and they have brought us to near ruin. The comment by Tomm is an example of this. Issues that we (we being all of us of good heart and intentions and forward thinking) have fought in the past now once again rear their ugly and hateful heads and it is indicative of the harm that has settled on all of us under Neo control. If we are ever to rise again and continue progressive action in this country, it is a long time away because these old/new battles must be fought by a more passive and ignorant and compliant populace.
Not feeling the mirth today...stories like this post tend to harsh my mellow.
mirth
· 1 year ago
Cowboyneok,
She must be lying and she must have invited and willingly participated in her brutal attack. Women are not to be trusted, y'know. They are always scheming against males.
So yes, we should pick apart the details of this event and decide amongst ourselves what her "correct" actions should have been one her nightmare ended.
/snark
Goddamnit!
mirth
· 1 year ago
Soundboy_Jeff,
You are right. I was so angered by this post that I didn't comprehend that the woman was a civilian KBR employee rather than a soldier. And I also agree that choosing to work for KBR is despicable; one assumes she, like her male counterparts, was doing it for the salary and perhaps for the adventure and maybe even a sense of patriotism.
But that does not negate Tomm's implication that for their own safety females should stay away from dangerous situations. Such thinking is 'burka-like' in that females should confine their activities because males might harm them if they choose to enter what has traditionally been a male world. This is the very worst of sexism and such thinking allows seemingly endless violence to continue against females and girls with 'they asked for it' mentality. It is placing blame on victim.
All Comments
Said he's been hearing about a lot of cases of dehyradition among female soldiers.
Apparently, many sexual assaults happen in the latrine areas, so they don't drink water so they won't have to go to the latrine.
I can't guarantee his story is accurate, but I can guarantee he worked for a military hospital.
Surely they know what is coming?
No woman with any sense would walk US streets at night so why go to fucking Bagdad?
I feel very sorry for her but WTF? The realities are that war zones are no place for women.
There has never been law in a war zone.
Get them the hell out of there!
Nearly a million innocent people dead, more than a million suffering people are displaced, and the Iraqi people now realize they were better off under Saddam Hussein. At least they were able to go to the market places, and look for jobs, without the fear of being blown up. Cheney has made sure that his buddies like KBR, Halliburton and others, have profited so handsomely, because of this bloody war, without any end.
Who speaks for that poor family who was killed, after their young daughter was brutallyl raped, killed and burned? Who speaks for the families who were wiped out in their homes, because our troops "did not know" who really shot at them? Who speaks for the innocent children who happened to be at the marketplace when a suicide bomber blew himself up? The Bush administration, including Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice (and she wants to run as VP?) and the members of Congress who voted for this bloody war, should be held responsible for the massacres, rapes, deaths and horrible injuries that are still going on in Iraq.
Not sure why Kos apologized for his comment about defense contractors.
If it was up to me, we'd pull our military out and leave those creeps behind to get what they've been giving to others.
Somebody did a documentary about women soldiers coming home from Iraq to their families...missing limbs. It is a real heart-wrencher.
Goddamn Chimpy, Cheney, McInsane and the entire Repuke party!!
I bet the Iraqi government is not consulted about KBR either.
Iraq is not a sovereign nation. The Surge was a failure. We lost the war.
Please login to rate.
Tomm,
I wasn't aware that female soldiers have the option of not serving where the military sends them.
So, along with its stupidity, your comment is very offensive.
----
true, SOLDIERS don't have a choice... and I'm not standing with tomm but...
she was a KBR contractor. man or woman, something terrible happens to them over there?? I feel bad about WHAT happened, but I still think working for KBR kinda taints them as human beings in my mind.
Sorry, I couldn't work for halliburton or any of its ilk... no matter what I was paid.
I suppose its called 'moral values'??
There has never been law in a war zone."
Tomm, you you think it's fair game women not only have the same hazards as men, but pile on rape by their coworkers? WTF, to use your words.
It's one thing to dodge bullets, bombs, and knives from the enemy, but another to have to dodge your coworkers. It's sad commentary on how little we have evolved as a species.
Privatization makes going to war too easy.
Another thing I'd like to see is some prohibition of private armies (like Blackwater) on U.S. soil. None. They don't belong in a democracy.
Soundboy_Jeff,
You are right. I was so angered by this post that I didn't comprehend that the woman was a civilian KBR employee rather than a soldier. And I also agree that choosing to work for KBR is despicable; one assumes she, like her male counterparts, was doing it for the salary and perhaps for the adventure and maybe even a sense of patriotism.
But that does not negate Tomm's implication that for their own safety females should stay away from dangerous situations. Such thinking is 'burka-like' in that females should confine their activities because males might harm them if they choose to enter what has traditionally been a male world. This is the very worst of sexism and such thinking allows seemingly endless violence to continue against females and girls with 'they asked for it' mentality. It is placing blame on victim.
---
Agreed... part of the issue I suppose is the 'old boy' network that permiates the military (not just the military, anywhere in American life where jobs were traditionally done by men).
I think the 'get the women out of there!' arguement is a crock of shit. If they're being raped, the system is fucked up... and obviously nothing is done about it because it keeps happening.
I didn't want to come across as sexist... if it were a guy working for KBR being raped with a bazooka, I'd still feel the same way about him. He shouldn't have to worry about being raped (nobody should), but he's still a piece of shit in my book because he works for KBR in the first place.
Adrian, I couldn't agree more. If America thinks we need to go to war, America should send their family members. Without that, going to war is too easy.
That being said, the attackers should face life in prison, what was done is monstrous, just hardly surprising. What happened to the women (and many others) should not have happened... even when working with the rabid dogs who comprise the morally bankrupt KBR brownshirts.
That being said, the attackers should face life in prison, what was done is monstrous, just hardly surprising. What happened to the women (and many others) should not have happened... even when working with the rabid dogs who comprise the morally bankrupt KBR brownshirts.
---
Agreed... maybe legislation, a sort of 'friendly fire' law stating that any criminal assault among US troops/contractors is punishable by mandatory life sentence.
If the recourse for the victim is dubious now... it needs to be corrected with HARSH punishment for perpetrators, military or non-military.
My 65-year old mother was mugged at 2 in the afternoon, about a block away from her house, in a good neighborhood mind you. What did she do wrong to deserve that? Is the attack her fault or the guy who did it? Should she stay inside for the rest of her life? Forgive women for expecting men to act like normal human beings and not hurt them. Forgive women for expecting men to act like normal human beings and, at the very least, throw the scum who do commit these crimes in jail.
Being in a war zone and without "female companionship" isn't a license to get it wherever and however you can. Put these guys in a room with the family members of these woman and see if they can make valid justifications for their behavior. Let them tell these women's fathers or husbands that what they did was ok and see if they don't end up with a broken arm or two. Try to make these womens children understand why their mother was hurt like that. "Boys will be boys", or they deserve what they got, or alls fair in a war zone, wouldn't fly in a million years......
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/more-recruits-requ...
KBR or any other contractor is not above the law. That story just infuriated me...I would never return to that job, either, money or not.
Another concern to Americans in general: This is not the only military contractor to allow such conduct in Iraq. This recent incident only highlights KBR and only because it was reported. You can bet there are other "incidents' out there and we don't know about it because the victims there were silenced.
And if it's not the actions of the scum they hired as contractors, it's the contractor companies actions themselves.
Remember AEY that sold 40yr old ammo to our Allies in Afghanistan and most of that was worthless as ammo?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/asia/27...
And just recently, the US Army can't be sure of the quality of some of their recent body armor purchases because someone didn't fill out the proper paperwork!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/...
And then there is Bell/Boeing with their boondoggle the V-22 Osprey with an engine they are making claims needs to be replaced faster then anticipated.
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,164275...
Don't forget that Boeing just recently lost their Air Force contract to Northrup for new fuel tankers because they could not meet the demands of the Air Force.
I am wondering why we are spending billions on these contractors/contracts when all the US Military is getting are junk or half-assed products that is giving everyone in this country a false sense of security?!?!?
I wasn't aware that female soldiers have the option of not serving where the military sends them.
So, along with its stupidity, your comment is very offensive.
Thanks for your thoughtful response. No one here, especially me, would think of you as sexist.
Strides forwards in equality of all people have been corrupted by the bastards in power. The very worst of our population has been in control and they have brought us to near ruin. The comment by Tomm is an example of this. Issues that we (we being all of us of good heart and intentions and forward thinking) have fought in the past now once again rear their ugly and hateful heads and it is indicative of the harm that has settled on all of us under Neo control. If we are ever to rise again and continue progressive action in this country, it is a long time away because these old/new battles must be fought by a more passive and ignorant and compliant populace.
Not feeling the mirth today...stories like this post tend to harsh my mellow.
She must be lying and she must have invited and willingly participated in her brutal attack. Women are not to be trusted, y'know. They are always scheming against males.
So yes, we should pick apart the details of this event and decide amongst ourselves what her "correct" actions should have been one her nightmare ended.
/snark
Goddamnit!
You are right. I was so angered by this post that I didn't comprehend that the woman was a civilian KBR employee rather than a soldier. And I also agree that choosing to work for KBR is despicable; one assumes she, like her male counterparts, was doing it for the salary and perhaps for the adventure and maybe even a sense of patriotism.
But that does not negate Tomm's implication that for their own safety females should stay away from dangerous situations. Such thinking is 'burka-like' in that females should confine their activities because males might harm them if they choose to enter what has traditionally been a male world. This is the very worst of sexism and such thinking allows seemingly endless violence to continue against females and girls with 'they asked for it' mentality. It is placing blame on victim.