Dick Cheney’s gang rapists in Iraq

This video from the USA is called Jamie Leigh Jones – KBR Gang Rape ABC 20/20 Report.

From Mother Jones in the USA:

Halliburton Loses to Jamie Leigh Jones

— By Stephanie Mencimer | Wed September 16, 2009 6:34 AM PST

Remember Jamie Leigh Jones, the Halliburton/KBR contractor who alleged she was gang raped by her co-workers in Iraq? When Halliburton failed to take any action against the men and the Justice Department failed to prosecute, Jones 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 would hire the arbitrator, all the proceedings would be secret, and she’d have no right to appeal if she lost.

Jones fought the agreement in the hopes of bringing her case before a jury. She argued that the alleged gang rape was not related to her employment and thus, wasn’t covered by the arbitration agreement. Finally, three years later, a federal court has sensibly agreed with her. Yesterday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2 to 1 ruling, found her alleged injuries were not, in fact, in any way related to her employment and thus, not covered by the contract. (One of the judges who ruled in her favor, Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale, is a West Point grad, Vietnam vet, and one of the court’s most conservative members, a sign, perhaps, of just how bad the facts are in this case.)

It’s a big victory, but a bitter one that shows just how insidious mandatory arbitration is. It’s taken Jones three years of litigation just to get to the point where she can finally sue the people who allegedly wronged her. It will be many more years before she finally wins any real justice.

It is stunning that 30 Republican members of the United States Senate would vote to protect a corporation, in this case Halliburton/KBR, over a woman who was gang raped: here.

Plight of Contractor Raped in Iraq Spurs Push in Congress: here.

Stewart: GOP protects Halliburton’s ‘it’s okay if you get raped’ clause: here.

Cindy Beringer reports on the struggles of Fort Hood soldiers who have stood up to resist the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: here.

Vice President Biden visited Iraq to uphold the US occupation and push for a law to open up the country’s oil wealth to exploitation: here.

Solidarity with Iraqi trade unions: here.

The US Army has abandoned its three-year effort to punish First Lt. Ehren Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq, allowing him to resign from the military on October 2: here.

Cheney cartoon: here.

KBR could face penalties, Pentagon auditors warn: here.

Law Firms Motley Rice LLC and Burke PLLC Join Forces to Take on KBR and Halliburton on Behalf of American Soldiers, Veterans: here.

Iraqi shoe-thrower’s speech

From the Stop the War site in Britain:

My flower to Bush the occupier: the story of my shoe

“Here I am, free. But my country is still a prisoner of war,” said Mutadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi who threw his shoe at George Bush, in this speech he gave on his release.

The Iraqi reporter who was jailed for throwing his shoes at former US President George W Bush alleged on Tuesday that he was tortured in police custody: here.

1,5 million fraudulent Afghan votes, EU says

This video is called Afghan elections ‘marred by fraud’ – 24 Aug 09.

From Al Jazeera:

EU: Afghan vote fraud widespread

Counting is now completed, but the sheer scale of suspected fraud questions any result

EU election observers have said that about 1.5 million votes cast in Afghanistan‘s elections last month could be fraudulent – almost a third of ballots cast.

The deputy head of the EU Election Observation Mission to Afghanistan, Dimitra Ioannou, told reporters on Wednesday that 1.1 million votes cast for the incumbent Hamid Karzai were suspicious.

Ioannou said there had also been 300,000 questionable votes for his main rival Abdullah Abdullah, with the rest of the suspicious votes cast for other candidates.

EU observers did not give an estimated figure for turnout, but it is believed to be low as the conflict between the Taliban and a Western-backed Afghan government becomes ever more deadly.

So, according to this European Union estimate, there are about 1,5 million fake votes, and 3 million real votes. 3 million real votes, then, from a population estimated at over 28 million in Afghanistan.

From the New Statesman:

A top official on the UN mission in Afghanistan has walked out over a disagreement on the reaction to vote-rigging in the presidential elections.

Peter Galbraith, the top American official in the UN mission, had pushed for a stronger reaction to the vote-rigging than that favoured by Kai Eide, the Norwegian head of the mission, who is hesitant to give the impression that foreigners were dictating the process.

Following the latest massacre in Kunduz there is a growing chorus of opinion in German military and right-wing political circles that it is time for the German army to pull off its kid gloves and conduct “proper” war in Afghanistan: here.

Allegations Mount Against Colonel Georg Klein for a Strike That Killed Civilians in Afghanistan: here.