» Good Friday Massacre Ms Sparky

KBR, Halliburton Won’t Face Trial in Iraq Convoy Driver Deaths, Court Says

Posted on: January 12th, 2012 at 2:31 pm — by Ms Sparky

By Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Margaret Cronin Fisk - Jan 12, 2012 3:55 PM CT

(Bloomberg News) – Halliburton Co. (HAL), won’t face a jury on claims they sent unarmed civilian convoy drivers into an Iraqi battle zone in 2004, knowing the workers would be injured or killed, an appeals court ruled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans today ruled the drivers’ claims were blocked by the Defense Base Act, a U.S. law that shields military contractors from lawsuits. The drivers were attacked and injured because of their role in support operations for the U.S. Army, which is covered under that statute, the judges said.

“Coverage of an injury under the DBA precludes an employee from recovering from his employer,” even if the worker claims the company was “substantially certain” the injuries would occur, U.S. Circuit Judge Priscilla R. Owen said in a 30-page ruling by the panel.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in CONTRACTOR DEATHS, Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, LOGCAP III - KBR. Tags: Defense Base Act, Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, Halliburton, Judge Gray Miller, Tommy Fibich. No Comments »

KBR wants Good Friday Massacre suit tossed

Posted on: July 7th, 2011 at 9:49 am — by Forseti

Appeals court asked to toss suits in convoy deaths

(The Associated Press) – NEW ORLEANS – July 7, 2011 – A long-running suit over insurgent ambushes that killed civilian truck drivers in Iraq is back in a federal appeals court.

Halliburton and former subsidiary KBR Inc. are accused of knowingly sending supply convoys into a dangerous area where six KBR drivers were killed and several others wounded in April 2004.

A federal judge ruled in March 2005 that most the suits can go to trial, though he said it’s unclear whether the defense contractors sent convoys knowingly into harm’s way.

Halliburton and KBR asked a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to toss out the ruling Thursday. The companies contend the claims are not subject to litigation and are covered instead by a federal workers’ compensation law.

The panel didn’t indicate when it would rule. (Click HERE for original article)

Posted in Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, KBR, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR. Tags: Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, Halliburton, KBR. No Comments »

The Uncounted Contractor Casualties

Posted on: May 9th, 2011 at 7:38 am — by Ms Sparky

David Isenberg – The PMSC Observer & Huffington Post

Author, Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq (Praeger Security International)

Of all the things said and written about private military and security contractors working for the U.S. government in various war zones one of the least discussed is the sacrifices they make. And like regular military forces they also pay the ultimate sacrifice, as in dying. Unlike regular military personnel their deaths rarely get any notice, aside from a company press release and a few paragraphs in the hometown newspaper. (click HERE for Fallen Contractors Memorial at American Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan)

Their sacrifices are so unrecognized that if Washington, D.C. were to build yet another war memorial on the mall The Tomb of the Unknown Contractor would have to be considered a viable candidate for selection. To paraphrase the old saw about regular military forces, one might say in regard to recognition of contractors wounded and killed, “nothing is too good for our contractors so that’s what we’ll give them. Nothing.”

Admittedly there is slightly better recognition of the wounded and dead contractors than when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and Iraq but that is not saying a whole lot. There simply has not been much detailed analysis of this subject. That is why a recent paper strongly deserved attention. It is Dead Contractors: The Un-Examined Effect of Surrogates on the Public’s Casualty Sensitivity by Prof. Steven L. Schooner and student Collin D. Swan, both of the George Washington University Law School, was recently published in the Journal of National Security Law & Policy.

In the paper they examine the “casualty sensitivity” effect. Economists define this as an inverse relationship exists between the number of military deaths and public support. Currently, most studies suggest that “majorities of the public have historically considered the potential and actual casualties in U.S. wars and military operations to be an important factor in their support.” (Read the rest of the story here…)

The Missing Man by Susie Dow

Posted on: August 10th, 2010 at 6:52 am — by Ms Sparky

I’d like to take a moment and give KUDO’s to Susie Dow at The Missing Man blog. Susie has painstakingly collected and tracked information on Americans who have been abducted, murdered or who are still missing in Iraq. Susie first began investigating abducted Americans when Kirk von Ackermann mysteriously disappeared in Northern Iraq in 2003.

Because the Defense and State Departments don’t publish lists of abducted Americans and their current status, collecting, compiling and maintaining the information is very time consuming.

Personally, I had no idea there had been at least 42 abductions of American citizens in Iraq. Of those 18 were killed and 18 are still missing.

Most stories just die, once the Main Stream Media (MSM) and general public grow tired of them. Thanks to Susie for doggedly sniffing out this information and publishing it for others to use forever! I know it takes a lot of time and effort, but don’t our American citizens who have died and are still missing deserve that?

If you have information about an abducted American in Iraq or Afghanistan you can contact Susie at The Missing Man.

Thank you Susie!

Ms Sparky

Posted in A Soldiers Story, CONTRACTOR DEATHS, Good Friday Massacre. Tags: Kirk von Ackermann, Susie Dow, The Missing Man. 10 Comments »

David Isenberg: KBR Gives Uncle Sam the One Finger Salute

Posted on: July 4th, 2010 at 9:26 am — by Forseti

David Isenberg – July 3, 2010 – Let’s take a brief look at the world of rent a generals. Specifically, Lt. Gen. Sanchez. (USA-Ret.). Gen. Sanchez had a distinguished Army career and honorably served his country. He was the highest-ranking Hispanic in the United States Army when he retired on November 1, 2006.

Those who can remember past yesterday will recall that he served as the V Corps commander of coalition forces in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004. While his time as commander was not without controversies ( hostile relations with Paul Bremer, torture scandal at Abu Ghraib, development of the Iraq insurgency) I assume he did the best he could.

For most retired officers that would have been enough. But evidently not for Gen. Sanchez. Evidently he felt the need to continue the fight; only now against U.S. civilians and injured veterans.

In February it was reported that the U.S. Army was trying to stop him from continuing to be an expert for KBR in a lawsuit against it over civilian truck driver deaths and injuries.

Sanchez is being paid $650 an hour and has reviewed documents and written a report that support’s KBR’s contention it should not be held legally responsible for the deaths of six civilian truck drivers and the injuries of others in a 2004 ambush in Iraq. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in CONTRACTOR DEATHS, Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, LOGCAP III - KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali. Tags: David Isenberg*, Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, KBR, KBR Fact Sheets, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. 2 Comments »

Wheels of justice turning slowly in deadly KBR convoy case

Posted on: March 25th, 2010 at 4:55 pm — by Forseti

Oops he lost his cap and lanyard

Judge permits convoy ambush trial, but delays it

By TOM FOWLER HOUSTON CHRONICLE – March 25, 2010
A federal judge ruled today that most of the lawsuits claiming Houston-based KBR should have stopped a deadly 2004 truck convoy in Iraq can move toward trial, but a May 24 trial date is off to allow KBR time to file an appeal.

The case centers on April 2004 attacks on a convoy of supply trucks KBR ran in Iraq, during which six civilian truck drivers were killed and 14 wounded.

The drivers caught in the ambush were delivering fuel under KBR’s multibillion-dollar contract to transport supplies, build bases, serve meals and provide other support services for American troops in the Middle East.

Plaintiffs in the Houston lawsuits — two injured workers and the family of one who was killed in the attack — allege that the company knew of the likelihood of the attacks in advance and had the authority to cancel the convoys.

U.S. District Judge Gray Miller previously dismissed the collection of lawsuits, saying the U.S. Army had control over KBR and thus KBR wasn’t responsible.

(Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in Donald Tolfree-KBR, Fisher vs KBR, Good Friday Massacre, KBR, Lawsuits Against KBR, LOGCAP III - KBR. Tags: Good Friday Massacre, Judge Gray Miller, Kevin Smith-Idol, Kristen Martin, Toby Cole, Tommy Fibich. 1 Comment »

Judge rules against Army in favor of KBR and the retired General who has sold his soul for $650.00hr

Posted on: March 4th, 2010 at 4:15 am — by Ms Sparky

Ex-commander in Iraq to give deposition in KBR case

By MARY FLOOD – March 3, 2010, 11:03PM

Despite the Army’s efforts to block it, retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who once led U.S. forces in Iraq, is scheduled to be deposed today as an expert for KBR in a lawsuit over a deadly civilian truck convoy attack in Iraq.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson refused Wednesday to grant the Army’s request to prevent Sanchez from giving his expert opinions in the case.

Drivers and family members suing KBR contend the company should have stopped the convoys when it was warned that attacks would increase on April 9, 2004, the first anniversary of the day allies in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq reached Baghdad.

Sanchez, who at $650 an hour is already owed about $91,000 in expert fees, says KBR is not at fault for the six deaths and other injuries.

Sanchez wrote a report saying it was an Army communication error that led the attacked convoys to go down a road some in the military knew was supposed to be closed to civilian traffic. (Read the rest of the story here…)