» 2011 » April Ms Sparky

US ‘may have broken international law’ over Iraqi attack on Iranian camp

Posted on: April 9th, 2011 at 7:36 am — by Forseti

Iraqi forces storm Camp Ashraf, home to 3,500 Iranian exiles, as supporters call on US and UN to intervene

Camp Ashraf residents carry an Iranian who they say was wounded in a raid by Iraqi forces. Photograph: Reuters

Mark Tran, James Ball and Melanie Newman – (Guardian UK) - April 8, 2011 – Iraqi forces have stormed a camp of Iranian dissidents in north-eastern Iraq amid warnings that the US government may have broken international law by failing to protect the camp.

An Iraqi general, Ali Ghaidan, confirmed that an operation took place in the early morning at Camp Ashraf, home to 3,500 Iranian exiles, all members of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) militia. He said no one was killed, but representatives of the group in London said 23 people died including six women.

A hospital official in Baquba, capital of the Diyala province, reported three deaths and 13 wounded. The figures could not be confirmed as access to the camp, whose residents have “protected persons” status under the Geneva convention, is restricted.

Ghaidan said troops were responding to exiles who had been throwing stones and throwing themselves in front of soldiers’ trucks over the past several days. The group’s supporters in London, who had been warning of an attack, said Iraqi forces used metal bars, sticks and batons to beat the residents and opened fire on the camp. The supporters called for urgent UN and US intervention.

“This is a massacre, a catastrophe,” said Behzad Saffari, who has lived at Ashraf for nine years and acts as the camp’s legal adviser. “They came inside the camp and attacked people with grenades and teargas, and then they started to shoot people. When people saw the attack was about to begin, they lined up to defend their homes.”

The raid was the latest in a series of interventions at the camp since jurisdiction was passed from the US to the Iraqi government in 2009. A WikiLeaks cable identified by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism at City University in London shows the US was aware the Iraqi government planned to crack down on the MEK, with potentially grave humanitarian consequences.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in Politics, Reports & Investigations, WikiLeaks. Tags: Camp Ashraf, Geneva Convention, Iraq, Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), Secretary Robert Gates, United Nations, WikiLeaks. 7 Comments »

KBR Named A Preferred Employer Among Women? Surely you jest!

Posted on: April 7th, 2011 at 10:13 am — by Ms Sparky

Every once in a while, something so incomprehensible happens, it throws off the whole balance of nature, white becomes black, up becomes down and pigs fly.

In a recent news release from KBR, it states they have made it onto the “Top 50 Employers” list for Woman Engineer Magazine with a ranking of #46. The lists published on WEM’s site do not include KBR so I can’t confirm KBR’s claim. Assuming KBR is not trying to mislead their employees and investors and did in fact somehow magically make it onto this list, I must then ask “Who in the Hell is #47, #48, #49 & #50?” KBR is notorious for their crimes and abuses against women employees. (Click HERE to contact Women Engineer Magazine and insist KBR be removed from the list)

Let’s start with this short list of well documented cases of female KBR employees who were brutally raped, harassed, intimidated and held against their will while working for KBR in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jamie Leigh Jones – Drugged and gang raped by KBR employee Charles Boartz and other unidentified KBR employees (firemen) and then held against her will by KBR management in the Green Zone – Baghdad, Iraq. To top it off KBR has the audacity to publicly vilify Jones by calling her a liar on their own site and in the media.

Anna Mayo – Raped and brutally beaten by who is believed to be a KBR employee and who was allowed to leave the country most likely by KBR management at Balad, Iraq. Again KBR chooses to publicly vilify Mayo by claiming she did not pursue the issue when she felt threatened by this employee when in fact she did report it to KBR management. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Body of Dyncorp employee still in Afghanistan over a week later -Why? (updated)

Posted on: April 5th, 2011 at 4:39 pm — by Ms Sparky

Former Atlanta Police Department officer Adam Carney was killed in Afghanistan while training police there. (Family Photo)

Updated April 10, 2011: Adam Carney’s body has finally been returned to his family, nearly two weeks after his death. You can read that article HERE. It’s an absolute atrocity it took that long. I encourage the family to have their own autopsy performed. ~Ms Sparky

This is a travesty. Why is it taking so long to return this man’s body to his family? According another article, he died in a hospital in Afghanistan not in some remote region that is difficult to access. Something doesn’t seem right here. I strongly urge the family to have their own autopsy done. Do not rely solely on the report from Dover Mortuary. Do not rule out anything including electrocution which has been an issue in Iraq and Afghanistan. Electrocution causes massive heart attacks that do not always occur immediately. Be persistent and do not think for one minute Dyncorp is your friend. They will do whatever necessary to protect their own interests and avoid more negative press. Contact your Congressional Representatives and get his body back here. The longer his body stays in Afghanistan the more difficult it will be to determine actual cause of death. My most sincere condolences to the friends, family and co-workers of Adam Carney. ~ Ms Sparky

Family still waiting to bury son who died in Afghanistan
By Christian Boone -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – April 5, 2011

Two weeks after he died of a massive heart attack, former Atlanta police officer Adam Carney’s body is expected to be returned home from Afghanistan, where he was helping train that country’s nascent police force.

But his parents haven’t planned his funeral yet, saying Adam Carney’s employer, DynCorp International, has provided them with “non-answers” and conflicting information about when they could claim the 34-year-old Navy veteran’s remains.

“No mother wants to bury their son,” Wanda Carney told the AJC on Tuesday. “This has just been more torture. No one should have to go through this.” (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in CONTRACTOR DEATHS, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LOGCAP-Dyncorp, Security Contractors. Tags: Adam Carney, DynCorp CIVPOL*, DynCorp*. 20 Comments »

KBR wants the Ryan Maseth wrongful death lawsuit to be heard in Iraqi court? I’ll bet they do!

Posted on: April 5th, 2011 at 3:08 pm — by Ms Sparky

SSG Ryan Maseth was electrocuted in his shower in Baghdad

This is KBR’s desperate attempt to keep this case out of a US court room. They are pulling out all the stops. It’s because of Ryan’s mother, Cheryl Harris’ unwavering commitment to see her sons death does not go unpunished and that no other soldier or civilian dies in this manner. Because of Cheryl’s tenacious pursuit of contractor accountability, the Army has completely revamped their electrical program. Electricians are supposed to be licensed, installations are supposed to be in accordance to the National Electrical Code (NEC) or the British Standards (BS) and the work of contractors is supposed to be inspected. There are still inherent flaws in the Army’s program most of which involves oversight, but thanks to Cheryl the living and working conditions for our soldiers and civilians are safer. Too bad her son had to die such a horrible death for the Army to make these changes! There is no doubt KBR totally disregarded Cheryl Harris and her “nuisance” law suit in the beginning. I don’t think they are disregarding her now! ~ Ms Sparky

Contractor claims Iraqi law should apply in suit over Shaler soldier’s death

Brian Bowling – PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW – April 5, 2011 – U.S. soldiers living on military bases in Iraq had no expectation that they were protected by Pennsylvania law instead of Iraqi law, a lawyer for a Houston-based defense contractor argued today in Pittsburgh federal court.

KBR Inc. wants U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to use Iraqi law in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Shaler against the company. Maseth was electrocuted Jan. 2, 2008, while showering at a military base in Baghdad.

Cheryl Harris and Douglas Maseth claim shoddy electrical work by the contractor caused their son’s death. KBR has denied responsibility and argues that Iraq has more interest in having its law applied to this case than Texas, Pennsylvania or Tennessee.

Harris said after today’s hearing that KBR’s arguments just feed the frustration she feels from having the case stuck in pretrial maneuvers for the past three years. Members of the military deserve to have U.S. standards applied to the bases they serve on, she said.

“It’s quite sad that KBR would think otherwise,” Harris said. “That they would be paid billions of dollars and not be expected to protect U.S. soldiers.”

Dan Russell, a lawyer for KBR, declined comment after the hearing.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in A Soldiers Story, Cheryl Harris vs KBR, Electrocutions/Shocks, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR, Ryan Maseth-US Army. Tags: Cheryl Harris, Electrocutions/Shocks, Judge Nora Barry Fischer, KBR, SSG Ryan Maseth. 3 Comments »

KBR’s crappy crappers ruled non-combatants

Posted on: April 4th, 2011 at 5:54 am — by Ms Sparky

Hannibal Had Problems With Latrines Too, Judge Says in Dismissing Claim Against KBR

Somewhere in Iraq

Adam Klasfeld – MANHATTAN (CN) – April 4, 2011 - In an order that cites poor conditions in military latrines from Iraq today to George Washington to Hannibal, a federal judge ruled that Kellogg, Brown & Root cannot be sued by an employee who tripped in a toilet it maintained in Iraq’s Camp Shield.

“At first glance, indoor latrine maintenance may not appear related to combatant activity,” U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel wrote in his 28-page order. “But, since at least the Roman campaign against Carthage there has been an acknowledged relationship between the upkeep of latrines and the health of fighting forces.”

Castel’s historically minded order dismissed a case by Richard Aiello, a civilian contractor who sought $2 million after tripping in a toilet at Camp Shield, a U.S. military base about 3 miles outside the Green Zone in Baghdad, near Sadr City.

Camp Shield was mortared and rocketed three times around Easter 2008, and soldiers civilian contractors guarded the perimeter from inside observation towers, the order states.

But KBR failed to guard against the “menace” posed by a poorly maintained toilet, Aiello wrote in his Sept. 15, 2009 complaint.

“[T]he bathroom was improperly designed and constructed so that persons had to stand on loose tiles to use the bathroom,” Aiello said. He added that “defendant was further negligent in that its agents, servants and/or employees, washed the aforesaid tiles and failed to properly post a sign or warn persons of said wet and slippery condition, all of which constituted a danger, menace, hazard, nuisance and trap.”

KBR sought dismissal last year, claiming immunity under rules prohibiting the court’s jurisdiction in cases involving political questions and combatant activities.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR. Tags: Camp Shield, Employee Issues-KBR, KBR Contract, LOGCAP III, Richard Aiello. 6 Comments »

Myths, Misconduct and other news

Posted on: April 3rd, 2011 at 7:05 am — by Forseti

We must work harder to debunk the myths and misconceptions that condone and even promote victim blaming and allow perpetrators to act with impunity. Rape is never invited because of what a victim was wearing or how much she had to drink. ~ Department of Justice (Justice Blog) ~ It Is Time: Get Involved during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Federal Defense Agency Granted Contracts To Company With Ties To Director
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded contracts worth $1.8 million over the last two years to RedXDefense, a firm co-owned by DARPA Director Regina Dugan. The agency says there has been ‘no credible evidence of misconduct.’
Ken Dilanian, Washington Bureau – (Los Angeles Times) – Reporting from Washington – April 3, 2011 -The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded contracts worth $1.8 million over the last two years to a company co-owned by its director and run by her father.

The awards were legal and proper, the agency says, because Director Regina Dugan recused herself from any role in DARPA’s dealings with the small defense technology firm. Nonetheless, ethics experts said the arrangement raises questions about whether her subordinates could be expected to treat her firm like any other.

Senior Pentagon officials and top generals are required to sell their holdings in defense contractors before taking office, but officials said that rule does not apply to the lower-level director of DARPA, the Defense Department’s cutting-edge research agency.

“I reviewed the contract and agreement at issue and have discussed the matter with DARPA personnel. I found no credible evidence of misconduct by the director with regard to RedXDefense contracts since 2009,” said Crane Lopes, DARPA’s general counsel, who works for Dugan. (Click HERE for article)

The woman who chased down sex traffickers
Anne Grant – (Providence Journal) – April 3, 2011 – Special to the Journal – Do not be fooled by the Hollywood-inspired cover — a United Nations folder clipped with a photo of a curvaceous silhouette looking over her shoulder as she frantically dashes through a tunnel.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

What’s PRESENTLY Bothering Stan Soloway?

Posted on: April 2nd, 2011 at 6:32 am — by Forseti

By Neil Gordon

April 1, 2011 – As we anticipated, our blog post on Tuesday (“What’s Bothering Stan Soloway Now?”) got a response from the man himself, Professional Services Council (PSC) president and CEO Stan Soloway. He let us have it in a comment he submitted yesterday.

Although we were expecting Mr. Soloway to reply, we were disappointed he ignored the main point of our post, which is that we basically agree with his criticisms regarding the Commission on Wartime Contracting’s (CWC) mandatory suspension recommendation. Instead, with no sense of irony, he accused us of “twisting around” what he wrote in his commentary which prompted our blog piece.

(Read the rest of the story here…)