WASHINGTON, April 9, 2008
Another Iraq Contractor Worker Claims Rape
Former KBR/Halliburton Employee Who Says She Was Raped Recounts Details Before Congress
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Former KBR/Halliburton contractor Dawn Leamon testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 9, 2008, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on prosecuting crimes. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
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Sexual Assault
Facts and statistics on sexual assault and rape, with victim resources.
A woman who made similar allegations before Congress last year listened and fought back tears.
Dawn Leamon of Lena, Ill. said at a Senate subcommittee hearing she was sodomized and forced to have oral sex by a soldier and a co-worker after she drank a cocktail that made her feel strange.
She worked as a paramedic for Service Employees International Inc., a foreign subsidiary of KBR Inc., at Camp Harper near Basra, Iraq. Leamon said the base was frequently under rocket attacks.
The alleged attack occurred just two months after Jamie Leigh Jones, formerly of Conroe, Texas, told a House committee she was raped by KBR/Halliburton co-workers and held a day in a shipping container after reporting the 2005 assault.
The Associated Press does not usually identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but the women have made their identities public.
Jones wiped away tears as Leamon and a third woman, Mary Beth Keniston, spoke. Keniston, of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, said she was assaulted in 2004 while working as a truck driver with her husband for KBR in Iraq.
"It bothers me that it happened again after I stood up and brought awareness to it and brought KBR to such scrutiny," Jones said during a break.
Jones sued Halliburton, whose former subsidiary is KBR, and is waiting for a judge to rule if it can go to trial or be settled in arbitration. KBR and Halliburton split last year.
Leamon, whose sons served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said employers discouraged her from reporting the rape and pressured her to sign an inaccurate statement with inaccurate details.
Several days after the assault she had to provide medical care to one of her attackers. She officially reported the rape after she was transferred to another camp on Feb. 27 because she feared for her safety.
"It is very easy for a person in that part of Iraq to disappear," Leamon said. "I could disappear in a heartbeat. I could fall. I could have a head injury and it could be explained (away)."
Since Jones' December testimony, some lawmakers have pressured the Bush administration to investigate sexual assault cases like hers and hold contractors more accountable.
Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, the subcommittee's chairman, said at least three laws give the Justice Department authority to prosecute such cases.
"We have an unprecedented number of contractors posted in war zones and if they are victimized by their colleagues or by soldiers, the concern of this committee is they end up in legal limbo," Nelson said.
Sigal Mandelker, a Justice Department deputy assistant attorney, told Nelson the agency takes sexual assault crimes very seriously and has a team of investigators and prosecutors in Iraq to handle them and other crimes.
The agency has between four and six active investigations including one into Leamon's, Mandelker said. But she said she didn't know of any convictions for sexual assault of a contract employee.
"It can be extremely difficult to investigate these cases. As you heard today it is an unfortunate fact that the crimes occur in a war zone and there are numerous difficulties of investigating a case when the conduct occurred in a war zone," Mandelker said.
KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne declined comment Wednesday. In a statement Tuesday, she said reports of sexual assault and harassment are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 78 CommentsBush and Cheney and ALL of their cohorts, deserve a swift trial and a swifter hanging.
They are guilty of Crimes Against Humanity.
Scumbags of the Lowest Order.
At this point, nothing our government does would shock me.
Posted by cdfoxtrot at 08:14 PM : Apr 09, 2008
Agree the fall Berlin was an orgy of depravity by the Russians on innocent German women and children.They were the victims of just as bad actions though if not worse.We are doomed by our ignorance of the past.
Scumbags of the Lowest Order.
Posted by veteran72 at 08:23 PM : Apr 09, 2008
Dont see your Kennedy''s, Kerry''s, Murtha''s, Pelosi''s or your Ried''s crying for any impeachment ... or hanging ...
this type of radical left thoughts are what give moderate thinking liberals a bad name ...
This garbage happens in Detroit, Chicago or any other city or town in America ... and the culprit is typically let out by one of your hero liberal judges in a short amount of time ...
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Posted by martinancy2 at 09:23 PM : Apr 09, 2008
+ report abuse
These are NOT Troops, they are HIRED Guns and People who are doing these things for MONEY... pure Greed. You want to see an Animal? Well they don''t come any worse than a creature who SELLS their services like these people. A Marine? He''s there because he believes in AMERICA. The Contractor? He''s there for the Bucks PERIOD!
"At this point, nothing our government does would shock me. "
shanve137,
This is the best government you will ever see. What is your problem? Have you nothing better to do with your time? Do not post just to see your words on the computer. Get a life and stop badgering my and YOUR home. You are such a small small person.
They''ve been raping the US economy for seven years now!
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Hey annd2302, you and your scumbag republican bush-loving friends are the anti-Americans.
You are the true haters of individual freedom and haters of our constitutional rights as Americans.
You''re the ones who need to leave.
Women''s liberation notwithstanding, women who are in those situations should travel in pairs or groups, they should dress modestly, and they shouldn''t accept drinks made by anyone but themselves.
Unfortunately, none of the above will have any effect on anyone who doesn''t already believe it.
Posted by shanev137 at 10:08 PM : Apr 09, 2008
They''re working on the very very Great Depression for 2029.
Yhis is the best government he will ever see ? You have got tobe kidding. Our government used to be great but not any more. My loyalty is to my country, my loyalty to my governmewnt went ouit the door after Vietnam.
I agree it will continue if Mccain is elected, but i think it would be even worse with obama in office. Either way think positive, mccain is old and may not live long, if obama is elected he may not live long either.
Forget the BS for one second,
rapes?, this is just one more offshoot of the
conservative agenda,
the GW Bush "Bring it On" agenda
macho men trying to be men after getting 15 draft deferments and dodgeing duty their entire lives,
those losers become republiCon politicians
those losers become contractors in Iraq
that loser becam president of the United States with
the help of the mindless christian vote
they are Un- no they are ANTI-American fascists
they should be deported or put in prison
No i didn''t see that news talk. I don''t like the general anyway, he is for prolonging the war. He is supporting bush to further his career.
Yeah, right, DOJ. You are really going to look into this.
Could someone please post as to WHAT laws contractors are beholden to?
Are they State Department "independent contractors" who fall under the diplomatic laws?
Condi? Anyone?
Aren''t there 180,000 "contractors" in Iraq?
Who do they answer to?
And if they do not fall under Iraqi laws, US laws, Geneva laws, - HOW DID this happen?
Just goes to prove it isn''t what you know but who you blow.
If Republicans are truly fascists, as you say, then you probably would have been arrested or shot by now for expressing your opinion, being that a Republican is currently in the Oval Office. Remember, one of the characteristics of a true fascist is a belligerant (and usually violent) response to any opposition or opinion other than their own. And, since apparantly you''re still out running loose, you just may have look up the ACTUAL defenition of a facist, instead of confusing facism with moronic leadership. There is a difference.
Can there be any doubt of the guilt of those who supported and continue to support these War Criminals Bush and Cheney?? We need Representatives who will follow the Rule of Law and Constitution, and unfortunatly, the cowardly Democratic Congress and Senate aren''t up to the task. When voted in with a clear mandate of Impeachment and ending this Illegal War and Occupation, the first thing out of Nancy Pelosi''s mouth was "Impeachment is off the Table", followed up with, "How much money do you need, Georgie"??.
It''s time to vote out ALL incumbents, from both Parties, and put honest American citizens, not multi-millionaire, bought and paid for K-Street Puppets, in their places.
Reid, Pelosi, and all the rest of those who refuse to do their Constitutional Duty, and the will of the majority of Americans, should be removed from office as soon as possible.
You forgot to say they should also be charged and prosecuted for all crimes. I also think we should impound their bank accounts and return the money to the national treasury, where they stole it from.
Where and when did you serve. I enlisted may66 and retired Jan 90.
It''s as if the author of the censorship list was raised by very repressed parents who were aghast if junior said "p.e.e p.e.e" instead of "urinate".
But, of all the words they don''t allow, the dirtiest word of them all appears to be d1.ck because it is the VP''s name!
I agree, but obama i don''t trust i think he is a racist and possible a terrorist sympathyzer, hillary i lost respect for when she offered to run omn joint ticket with obama, mccain if he came under fire i think he would probably forget that it happened before he had a chance to tell anyone, anyway he is for keeping the war going in Iraq so i don''t want him in but prefer him over obama. Hillary i give grecit to, afterall who do you think was running the white house when bill was out molesting and getting blow jobs. Mt first choice has always been Ron Paul. We need someone who knows how to run a business and he has a successful track record, would pull us out of Iraq immediately, and believes the people shoukld govern themselves so would cut down big govt, like the irs, cia, etc.
That is where you and i differ on opinion, i believe obama is the one to be least trusted
"So"??....
But she went to Iraq to make the money.
Everyone is at risk.
It was a choice.
What did she expect in a war zone.
She wanted to cash in on the rape of Iraq.
Then SHE got raped herself!
What goes around comes around.
Posted by joyous88
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How do you figure that?
You view is simplistic and ill stated
HAVE YOU NO COMPASSION? THESE WOMEN WENT TO DO A JOB NOT TO BE RAPED. iT WOULDN''T BE RIGHT IF IT HAPPENED HERE SO WHY WOULD YOU CONDONE IT THERE ? WOULD YOU FEEL THE SAME IF IT WERE YOUR WIFE, SISTER, MOTHER OR SOMEONE YOU KNEW ?
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RE : summarex
Who .. Enjoys - Approves and Supports
The DEGRADATION .. and .. The HUMILIATION of Women
Who Are S*E*X*U*A*LLY Assaulted and RAPED
RE : summarex .... You Need to be watched ! ! !
Posted by lastdance61 at 01:48 AM : Apr 10, 2008
actually, the republicon party approves this kind of lifestyle, and all their followers. You can find them living in christian compounds armed to the tooth, scared to live free amongst the rest of normal people. Or, as stated in the article, you can find them serving bush''s armed forces getting gang raped.
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