Court Says Halliburton And KBR Can Be Sued

Halliburton and KBR have just lost a decision in federal court that could cost them dearly. U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison ruled on Friday that one of their female employees can sue the companies. The companies were trying to force her to agree to binding arbitration, citing the contract signed when the woman was hired.

Back in 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones worked for KBR in Camp Hope in Baghdad. At that time, KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton. Ms. Jones was living in a company-provided co-ed dorm, and suffered daily harrassment from some of the men living there.

On 07/28/05, Ms. Jones was drugged and raped by several firefighters working for KBR. She was then kidnapped and falsely imprisoned in a shipping container by KBR employees, so she couldn't report the crime. After being imprisoned for a day, an honest employee released her. To this day, none of the firefighters have been convicted of any crime.

Ms. Jones then filed suit in federal court against KBR and it's parent company, Halliburton. Lawyers for Halliburton and KBR filed their own suit, saying that Ms. Jones had signed a contract when she was hired that said disagreements between her and the company would be settled in private with binding arbitration. They contended the court had no juristiction because of the contract.

They were wrong. The judge agreed that matters such as salary must be handled in arbitration, but the rape, kidnapping and imprisonment went far beyond the terms of the contract. The judge gave Ms. Jones permission to proceed with her court case on those grounds.

Now, all of the charges will be aired in open court (as they should be). After they hear the horrible facts in this case, I'll bet a jury will be much more generous in their verdict than an arbitrator would have been.

I wish Ms. Jones and her attorney luck. She deserves every penny she can squeeze out of Halliburton and KBR.

KBR Sells Contaminated Water To Troops

When Bush and Cheney started their ridiculous misadventure in Iraq, they gave a bunch of lucrative no-bid contracts to their corporate friends to provide goods and services for our troops. The company that received the majority of these rewarding contracts was Dick Cheney's old company, Halliburton and its many subsidiaries.

Now we learn of another instance in which these companies are failing our troops while making themselves rich. KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton until recently, has been selling our troops contaminated water. This water has been making our troops sick.

Our soldiers have experienced skin abcesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses from using smelly and discolored water provided by KBR. It was not drinking water, but water provided for laundry and personal hygiene.

A Defense Department Inspector General's report was obtained by the Associated Press, which shows there have been water contamination problems in Iraq by KBR between January 2004 and December 2006 -- a full three years!

The report said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and "exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water". The delivery of contaminated water continued for three years, because Halliburton and KBR tried to cover up the problem rather than fix it.

The Bush administration has done a very poor job of taking care of our soldiers. They have allowed second-rate protective vests, poorly-armored Humvees and substandard veteran's care. They have also done a poor job of overseeing the contractors who are supposed to be taking care of our troops.

We not only need to end this war and bring our troops home, but we need to get a whole bunch of congressional investigations going. Our troops have been short-changed by the Republicans and their corporate cronies for far too long.

The Criminal Side Of KBR/Halliburton

It's been obvious for a while now that many corporations don't care about people, laws or anything else -- except money. That is especially true of Halliburton and its subsidiaries like KBR. Halliburton got a sweetheart deal from the White House to reap windfall profits from the Iraq war, and they're not about to let anyone or anything interfere with those profits.

In 2005, a young lady from Conroe, Jamie Leigh Jones, was working for KBR in Iraq. At that time, KBR was still a subsidiariy of Halliburton. In July of that year, Ms. Jones was drugged and raped repeatedly by a group of KBR and Halliburton firefighters.

When she tried to go to the authorities, the company locked her in a shipping container without food, water or medical help. Who knows what would have happened to her if one of the company guards hadn't felt sorry for her and let her use his cell phone.

She called her father, who called his congressman, Ted Poe. Poe called the State Department and demanded they rescue her. The State Department sent investigators, who rescued her and got her medical treatment, where a doctor verified she had been raped.

Now, Halliburton could have done the right thing. They could have reported the crime and gotten Ms. Jones medical help. They could have seen the rapists were apprehended and punished. But they chose not to do that. They were afraid that might interfere with their windfall profits.

In May, Ms. Jones filed a federal lawsuit against Halliburton and KBR. These companies are still acting to protect their unending supply of government money. They are now trying to force her to submit to a secret arbitration hearing, rather than an open trial in federal court. They claim her contract calls for arbitration. I have a feeling that arbitration for was civil disputes with the company -- not criminal action by the company.

I hope Ms. Jones has an excellent attorney. An attorney good enough to get this case into open court where the truth can be heard, and where she can be adequately compensated by a jury for the companies' actions.

And where has the federal government been for the last two years? They know who the rapists are, so why haven't they been arrested and punished? The companies are also guilty of crimes -- kidnapping and trying to cover up a crime. Why hasn't the government taken action against Halliburton and KBR?

Is the Bush administration trying to protect Halliburton and KBR?

Halliburton Moving Headquarters To Dubai

It looks like Dick Cheney's old company will soon no longer be an American company. They have announced plans to move the company's headquarters to Dubai in the Middle East.

According to company spokesmen, this will make it easier to expand their business in the Middle East. They may be right about that. After the way Bush has continually screwed up in that area of the world, it can't be easy for an American company trying to do business over there. And in 2006, Halliburton only had a profit of $2.6 billion - they obviously need new business to survive.

It certainly doesn't show much patriotism though. Maybe this will finally start to convince those who wish to hand over power to the corporations, that it would be a mistake to continue down that road. Corporations have no allegiance to any country. They consider themselves to be international, and their only allegiance is to the dollar. Their motivation is greed, not patriotism.

This should worry those who support the war in Iraq. After all, the U.S. and its troops depend heavily on Halliburton in the war effort. They have wound up with nearly all the contracts to provide services over there - and many of those contracts were awarded without competitive bidding (it's nice to have friends in the White House).

I do wonder though if the impetus for the move might be something besides searching for more business in the Middle East. This corporation is not like the die-hard Bush apologists. They can read the hand-writing on the wall. They can see the war is a failure and the public is not happy.

What have they done with the many billions of dollars they have been paid by our government? Democrats have already taken over in the House and are even in the Senate (Lieberman doesn't count - he's not a Democrat). It's looking like the Democrats will gain more ground in 2008. When they do, there are going to be lots of investigations about what has gone on in Iraq - and Halliburton will be one of the major entities being investigated.

After 2008, Cheney will no longer be able to protect them. Could this be a major reason for moving to Dubai? It's going to be a whole lot harder to hold the corporation and its officers responsible if they are a foreign company.

I think they are getting out before the Democrats can expose them before the American people for stealing from our government and shortchanging our troops.