Defense contractors cringe at the thought the Pentagon will track the assault of their employees
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer
Feb 12, 4:41 PM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The sexual assault of employees of U.S. military contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan will be tracked by the Pentagon under a system it is setting up.
The tracking will likely begin this year, Defense official Gail McGinn said in a memo to the Pentagon’s Inspector General included in a report released Friday.
The IG evaluation was initiated by a request from congressional members concerned that not enough protections were offered to U.S. contracting employees assaulted in the war zones. One of the most high profile cases was that of a Texas woman, Jamie Leigh Jones. Jones has sued Halliburton Co. and its former subsidiary KBR, saying she was gang raped while working for KBR in Iraq in 2005.
The IG also recommended the Pentagon develop plans to provide immediate help following assaults on contractor employees, which McGinn also said the Pentagon was developing plans to do.
The IG noted it found anecdotal evidence that contractors who reported being assaulted received medical and other assistance from military personnel.
It said from 2005 to 2007, the Military Criminal Investigative Organizations conducted 25 sexual assault investigations involving contractor personnel in the two war zones.
In about a third of those cases, contractor company officials reported the assault to DOD officials, but in the remaining cases the alleged victim notified law enforcement directly or the report came from someone else, the IG said.
In the Jones case, the companies said her contract required claims against them be settled through arbitration. In September, an appeals court ruled Jones’ claims can go to trial, and a trial date has been set in federal court in February 2011.
The Associated Press typically does not identify people alleging sexual assault, but Jones’ face and name have been broadcast in media reports and on her own Web site. (click HERE for original article)
I haven’t read the entire report as of the publishing of this post. You can read Evaluation of DoD Sexual Assault Response in Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Areas of Operation – Report IPO 2010E001 at this link.
Other Related Posts From Ms Sparky
- DoD unveils new initiatives to combat sexual assault in the military
- It’s no wonder the Pentagon won’t deal with Defense contractors and sex crimes
- The Pentagon takes a hard line on mandatory arbitration for crimes against contractor employees
- Dear Pentagon and Defense Contractors: It’s Not Patriotic To Cheat America
- Defense contractors and their sex crimes go unreported and unpunished
Sunday, February 14th 2010 at 4:01 pm |
“The IG noted it found anecdotal evidence that contractors who reported being assaulted received medical and other assistance from military personnel.”
WTF is anecdotal evidence? Did the medical assistance include rape kits? What happened to the rape kits? Was evidence handed over to the contractor or representative who may have been the perp or Kinfolk, Brother or Relative of the perp? Did the assistance include ensuring the victim(s) safety? We are heading into year 8 of this war and they are just now looking into this problem?
Sunday, February 14th 2010 at 4:52 pm |
The expression anecdotal evidence has two distinct meanings.
(1) Evidence in the form of an anecdote or hearsay is called anecdotal if there is doubt about its veracity; the evidence itself is considered untrustworthy.
(2 Evidence, which may itself be true and verifiable, used to deduce a conclusion which does not follow from it, usually by generalizing from an insufficient amount of evidence.
The term is often used in contrast to scientific evidence, such as evidence-based medicine, which are types of formal accounts. Some anecdotal evidence does not qualify as scientific evidence because its nature prevents it from being investigated using the scientific method.
Misuse of anecdotal evidence is a logical fallacy and is sometimes informally referred to as the “person who” fallacy (“I know a person who…”; “I know of a case where…” etc. Compare with hasty generalization). Anecdotal evidence is not necessarily representative of a “typical” experience; statistical evidence can more accurately determine how typical something is.
In the end contractors will use this term to deny and dismiss everything as hearsay even when written accounts coming from verifiable sources. They will discredit anyone as they have before, while under their employ after filing a complaint.
The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation, without good name, a man is merely “gilded loam or painted clay.”
Rat Bastards all of them!
Sunday, February 14th 2010 at 5:27 pm |
Wow Baboo I am impressed – but still trying to distill this down enough for my simple mind to comprehend.
So are you basically saying it is all going to boil down to a he said/she said? Which we all know is not admisable in a court of law.
…..says – THE IG – which IG was that SIGIR, DoD, Army?
Sunday, February 14th 2010 at 7:04 pm |
You know how those “Rat Bastard” lawyers, like to discredit people. Just think of the day in court when they question Bubba about something. Straight drown the crapper unless he wants a promotion from KBR or DynCorp Management, then he’s in.
Thursday, February 18th 2010 at 7:32 am |
You hang tough,Jamie!! Its something else that the victim has her face and name plastered all over the media while the perpetrators remain anonymous…but you sons of bitches know who you are,dont you? Do your guts clinch up when a cop walks toward you? Knocks on your front door give you some good COLD fear? That fear doesnt feel very good,does it?