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For These Two Women, Iraq was a Horrible, Bloody Nightmare

April 09, 2008 9:45 AM

At 9:00am General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will appear before the House Armed Services Committee to talk about Iraq.

At 9:30am on the other side of the Hill, two women contractors will appear before Senator Bill Nelson's Foreign Relations Subcommittee also to talk about Iraq.

But the stories these two committees will hear couldn't be more different.

One witness, a paramedic for a defense contractor, recently told her story to Karen Houppert of THE NATION recounting how early one morning last January she woke up in southern Iraq naked, bleeding and hurting badly.  Beside her was a u.s. soldier also naked, his gun on the floor next to the bed.  She says she remembers screaming as she was being raped not only by the soldier but also by a colleague who worked for defense contractor KBR, a colleague she thought had come to rescue her. 

Mary Beth Kineston who took a job with KBR working as a truck driver hauling water in Iraq will tell Senator Nelson that one day while waiting in line she was raped in the cab of her truck by a third party national and later sexually assaulted by a co-worker who found out about the rape. In her written testimony she says female drivers were subjected to the worst type of harassment when they needed a restroom break and often had to wait in long lines for hours to get food and water in the 120 degree heat while the men got both quickly. 

Both women tried to get help from the military and their contractor bosses but what both got instead were warnings to keep quiet and retaliation for their attempts to report the attacks and seek justice.   

In his opening statement, Senator Nelson, says "There apparently is quite simply a lack of determination or desire on the part of the Justice Department to seek criminal prosecution of these crimes.  I am told that together the departments of defense and state have referred NUMEROUS CASES to the justice department, but to this day NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THESE CASES HAS BEEN PROSECUTED."  Nelson says there is a law on the books, the MILITARY EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION ACT that was passed by Congress in 2000, that gives Justice the power it needs to go after the attackers.

Though the Justice Department has declined to testify at previous hearings on this issue, they will show up at Senator Bill Nelson's hearing today along with state and defense department witnesses.   

April 9, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (1)

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Posted by: rgonzz | Apr 11, 2008 3:54:40 PM

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