"Slave Next Door" Exposes U.S. Gov't Sanctioned Slavery

http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/slave_next_door_exposes_us_govt_sanctioned_slavery

Boondoggles, pork barrels, and shoddy work are scandalous, but it was another, uglier issue that brought First Kuwaiti to the world's attention. Some of their contract workers had been trafficked to Iraq against their will, held by force, and paid little or nothing. First Kuwaiti - and by association, the U.S. Department of State - were using slave labor to build the embassy. Taxpayers were footing the bill. The idea of a U.S. subcontractor trafficking enslaved workers into the country where we are waging a war to introduce freedom and democracy, is unthinkable. And yet, in case after case, the construction company hired workers, normally through sub-contractors, from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Egypt, Turkey, and the Philippines under false pretenses. Falsely promised work in Dubai, they were landed in a combat zone. Once in Iraq contractors confiscated the workers' passports, forced them to live in squalid conditions, and to work long hours for little or no pay.

Despite Obama’s Vow, Combat Brigades Will Stay in Iraq

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46264

Despite President Barack Obama’s statement at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina Feb. 27 that he had "chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months," a number of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), which have been the basic U.S. Army combat unit in Iraq for six years, will remain in Iraq after that date under a new non-combat label.

U.S. AND ALLIES TORTURED KIDS IN IRAQ PRISONS

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/37532

Since it invaded Iraq in 2003, the U.S. has detained thousands of juveniles---some of whom were tortured and sexually abused, according to published reports. Figures of the number of children behind bars vary. Some estimates put the number as high as 6,000.

Iraq War Interactive Timeline

http://www.motherjones.com/bush_war_timeline/

Lie by Lie

In this timeline, we've assembled the history of the Iraq War to create a resource we hope will help resolve open questions of the Bush era. What did our leaders know and when did they know it? And, perhaps just as important, what red flags did we miss, and how could we have missed them? This is the third installment of the timeline, with a focus on Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and torture in a time of terror.

DOJ Preparing to Charge Six Blackwater Guards in Nisour Square Massacre

alternet

Indictments for the killing of 17 Iraqis would likely be sought under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which would be unprecedented.

The U.S. Justice Department has sent so-called target letters to six Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the September 16 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians, the Washington Post reported Sunday. Sources told the Post that the letters, which provide an opportunity for the recipients to contest grand jury evidence, indicate the Justice Department will likely seek indictments against at least some of the guards under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA). Indictments against the Blackwater employees under the MEJA would mark the first time that State Department contractors were prosecuted under the Act, which allows criminal charges to be filed against contractors working for the Department of Defense. The sources explained that a final decision on whether to indict the men may not be made until October. The Washington Post has more.

The Jews of Iraq

Naeim Giladi

I write this article

for the same reason I wrote my book:

to tell the American people,

and especially American Jews,

that Jews from Islamic lands did not emigrate

willingly to Israel; that, to force them to leave,

Jews killed Jews; and that,

to buy time to confiscate ever more Arab lands,

Jews on numerous occasions

rejected genuine peace initiatives

from their Arab neighbors.

I write about what the first prime minister of Israel

called "cruel Zionism."

I write about it because I was part of it.

If You Care About the Troops, Then You Have to Care About Private LaVena Johnson

aol

LaVena Johnson, a private in the Army was brutally raped, beaten and killed in 2005. Her teeth were knocked in, her nose broken, she had teeth marks on her body and there was corrosive liquid poured into her vagina, most likely to destroy evidence. Then she was shot and her body set on fire. After all this, the military called it ... a suicide.

Who are they kidding? What is the real reason they are covering up this murder? A trail of blood from the private's body led into the tent of a military contractor from Kellogg, Brown & Root (a subsidiary of Halliburton at the time). I don't want to make any conclusions now about who might have done this and why it was covered up, but one thing that is exceedingly clear from the evidence is that she was murdered and there needs to be an investigation into who did it.

There is a website set up to follow this case and demand justice: http://www.lavenajohnson.com/

Iraqi children: sexual abuse, addiction and imprisonment

Uruknet

Independent and government reports have confirmed an increase in the number of orphaned and sexually abused children, as well as a rise in the number dropping out of school. And as the security situation has worsened of late, nongovernmental organizations warn against the impact of deteriorating security conditions on Iraqi children.

Officials from Childhood Voices Association, a children’s non-governmental organization, say that "there are 11,000 children addicted to drugs in Baghdad alone, that many girls aged 12 to 16 years old have been victims of rape, and that many girls aged 12 years and above have endured sexual harassment." The organization also quotes international reports stressing that "more than 1 million Iraqi children have entered the labour market with the increase in the rate of poverty (one third of Iraq’s population live under the poverty line) and that they suffer violence and sexual abuse." According to their report, 1.3 million children aged 8 to 16 years old, equal to 6.1% of the population, have become workers.

BBC Uncovers Lost Iraq Billions

BBC

A BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq.

For the first time, the extent to which some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding has been researched by the BBC's Panorama using US and Iraqi government sources.

A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.
The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.

BBC Probe: Gag Orders Hide Contractor Corruption in Iraq

Gang-Rape Victim Says She and Others Silenced by Halliburton

(Source-ABC)

A Houston, Texas woman, who says she was gang-raped by her co-workers at a Halliburton/KBR camp in Baghdad, says 38 women have come forward through her foundation to report their own tragic stories to her, but that many cannot speak publicly due to arbitration agreements in their employment contracts.

Jones returned from Iraq following her rape in 2005. She was the subject of an exclusive ABC News report in December which led to congressional hearings.

US Soldiers Stage Mutiny in Baghdad

(Full Article)
Originally from: Manila Ryce – Alternet December 23, 2007

After an IED attack killed five members of 2nd Platoon Charlie 1-26 in northeast Baghdad, members of the unit gathered and determined that they could no longer function professionally. Several soldiers feared that their anger and want for revenge would result in a massacre of innocent civilians, and thus decided to stage a revolt against the orders of their commanders.

When the IED, the roadside bomb, went off, it was so close to one of the Iraqi police stations that they should have been able to see somebody burying that. It was right in front of somebody's house, and nobody said anything. Nobody said to these guys, "Listen, there's a bomb here. We're worried about you," even though they had been going out and patrolling and doing what they were supposed to be doing, in their minds. So when that IED went off and killed their five friends, they're in--you have to understand, they've been living together for a year like brothers in the basement of this old palace. And it's--they're right on top of each other and going out and taking care of each other on the battlefield, daily firefights. And so, they're closer probably than anyone could be. And when they lost their five men, they--I think they gave up on the Iraqi people.