Atrocity

I don't usually cut and paste whole emails into blog entry's. I haven't done the veracity check on this yet, but it sounds plausible to me and equally atrocious that this happened in every sense of what is gratuitously wrong with our whole approach to Iraq.

Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old woman working in Iraq for a subsidiary of Halliburton when she was drugged and brutally gang-raped by several co-workers.

The next day, Halliburton told her that if she left Iraq to get medical treatment, she could lose her job.1

Jamie's story gets even more horrific: For the last two years, she's been asking the US government to hold the perpetrators accountable. But the men who raped her may never be brought to justice because Halliburton and other contractors in Iraq aren't subject to US or Iraqi laws. They can't be tried for a crime in any court.2

This is one of the most disturbing stories we have come across in a while. We're calling on Congress to investigate Jamie's case, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law so this can't happen again. If hundreds of thousands of us speak out against this outrageous story, we can force Congress to take action.

Can you sign the petition? The text is in the blue box at the right. Clicking below will add your name.

http://pol.moveon.org/contractors_accountable/o.pl?id=11800-4861130-Yyk1Bd&t=3

After you sign, please forward this email to friends, family and colleagues—we all need to speak out together.

When you get an email from us, it doesn't usually include a graphic description of a brutal attack. But when we heard this story, we knew we had to do something about it.

Here's how Jamie described what happened after the attack:

I awoke the next morning in the barracks to find my naked body battered and bruised. I was still groggy from whatever had been put in my drink. I was bleeding... After getting to the clinic and having a rape kit performed...I was locked in a container with no food, no way to call my parents, and was placed under armed guard by Halliburton.3

Jamie's attackers aren't the only ones exploiting a legal loophole to get away with their violent crimes. Another female employee of Halliburton says she was raped by her co-workers in Iraq.4 Employees of Blackwater, another private contracting firm in Iraq, were accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians, and that incident turned into an international scandal. Worst of all, they may never be punished.5

Private contractors in Iraq are making massive amounts of money, operating above the law and are accountable to no one. This has to stop.

Congress needs to act now to bring these contractors under the rule of law. If they don't, nothing will prevent a case like Jamie's from happening again. No man or woman working in Iraq should have to fear that they can be attacked without consequences.

Please sign on to the petition: "Congress must investigate the rape of Jamie Leigh Jones and others, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law." Clicking below adds your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/contractors_accountable/o.pl?id=11800-4861130-Yyk1Bd&t=4

Thanks for all you do,

–Nita, Wes, Karin, Marika, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Friday, December 14th, 2007

strategic redeployment in the war on christmas

My troops are ready. They have doubled in number since last year.



They are well armed and ready to fight two wars: the war on war and the war on conspicuous consumption. Stay tuned for a report from the battlefield next week.

cross-posted at this blog will self-destruct in five seconds

Kvatch's Kommandos Deploy For A28

Kvatch's Kommandos take to the streets in support of A28

Click the photos for a larger image.
Additional photos posted at Blognonymous and If I Ran The Zoo.

Where will you be on May 13th?

I will be Standing for Peace at the Korean Friendship Bell overlooking Point Fermin and the Pacific Ocean in San Pedro, California.

Please stand with us for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. your local time on May 13, 2007, in your local park, school yard, gathering place, or any place you deem appropriate. We ask you to invite the men who you care about to join you. We ask that you bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the beginning of the five minutes of silence and to ring again to signify the end of the period of silence. During the silence, please think about what you individually and we collectively can do to attain this world. If you need to sit rather than stand, please feel free to do so. Afterwards, hopefully you and your loved ones can talk together about how we can bring about this world. (Big thank you to Peace Chick Mary for alerting me to this.)
cross posted at Journeys with Jood, The Katrinacrat, and The Fat Lady Sings

THE NEW CONGRESS CONVENES

TO: ALL KMDRS
FROM: KVATCH, SUPREME KMDR

110TH CONGRESS CONVENES IN THREE DAYS STOP
REMIND DEMS THAT OUR TROOPS MUST RETURN HOME STOP
HOLD THE ADMINISTRATION'S FEET TO THE FIRE STOP
DEPLOY YOUR KOMMANDOS AND SPREAD THE MESSAGE STOP

GODSPEED

K.K.

Kommaner Lex will too

Supreme Kommander Kvatch: I will make my first mission the pre-and post-Xmas rushes. Kommander of the Road Runners is right. It's a good time to find lots of people to see the soldiers.

Kommander Lex

kristmas kommandos storm south coast plaza

This time of year there is no better place to spread the message of peace on Earth than at your local shopping maul. Strategic placement of kommandos throughout stores and common areas are bound to catch the eye of frantic consumers.

Today I deployed several kommandos throughout South Coast Plaza, the third largest shopping mall in the United States. Each soldier was equipped with the message "Bring us home for Christmas" and "Stop the War".

My goal - to wake up OC shoppers from their gift-snatching slumber.



After scattering troops throughout the common areas we moved into Borders bookstore. I hit up the newly released racks by the checkout counter and then moved into the music section.



Harry Potter and his friends seem like decent kids...



Lastly, we attacked the bustling magazine rack and found one concerned-looking dude.



cross-posted at this blog will self-destruct in five seconds

Tags: kommandos, peace, christmas, anti-war, orange county, south coast plaza

Kvatch's Kommandos Storm The Kastro

At noon today two companies of Kvatch's Kommandos stormed into San Francisco's Castro district, showing support for America's veterans while getting odd looks from the Sunday brunch crowd.

L>T & her MEN brave the STORM !

Sorry we're late Sir! hell of a rain storm here in the Pacific Northwest
THIS ONES FOR THE VETERANS!!!
FIGHTING THEIR WAY UP CITY HALL!
SURROUNDING THE COURTHOUSE!
TAKING THE BANK!

That was awesome! I can't wait for the next deployment! :)

Kvatch's Kommandos Swing Into Action...

This morning in San Francisco's Castro district.

Dispatches from the front will be posted later today.

Read the Post Below This

I'll comment in what I was planning to say. The post below is much,much too important.

KOMMANDOS RAID--VETERANS DAY 2006 (GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA)

Station Agent's debriefing...

After a long float from the Antarctic Unit beached in strange college town.


The local Walmart again?


I must admit I have no exit strategy from the WalMart.


Not without buying a sponge, some aspirin, a twelve dollar desk fan and a copy of the Enquirer. Oh and a Heath Bar and a bottle of Diet Pepsi.

This raid was a debacle.

Tags: Kommandos Project, Iraq War.

Kommandos To Support The Troops on Veterans Day

TO: ALL KMDRS
FROM: KVATCH, SUPREME KMDR

KOMMANDER AMERICAN REPORTS TROOPS READY FOR VETERANS DAY DEPLOYMENT STOP
KOMMANDER KVATCH ALSO SENDING TROOPS INTO THE FIELD STOP
ALL KOMMANDERS ENCOURAGED TO PREPARE REINFORCEMENTS STOP

GODSPEED

K.K.

What's the Kommandos Project all about?

Once upon a time there was a Chicago peace activist named Sallie Gratch who had an idea for a novel sort of protest involving the little army men that you played with as a kid. A blogger named Jay Lassiter picked up the idea and began deploying these little guys whenever and wherever he had the chance.

The Kommandos Project started when Kvatch decided to go national with the idea in order celebrate his own blog's one year anniversary. That was in May. Since then, dozens of bloggers all over the nation have deployed thousands of these little guys, with major protests being held on Memorial Day and Independence Day.

And now we're going to show our support for the troops and for an end to the Iraq War with a Veteran's Day Protest.

Please join us.

The Red Brigade is Ready for Duty, Sir

Cleticfire and Lady Celticfire are READY to deploy there Red Brigade this Friday, butwe need a little advice first.... Please advice on the following... Regarding the safety of our troops and their commanders, would it be prudent to deploy troops to Recruting Offices around the city?? Would this jeoperdize the saftey of troops and mission???

PLEASE Advise...

Kommandos Go Fashionable

I stumbled across this interesting ad for toy soldier t-shirts.Be the first kommander to get your own! Click on MEN"S and then TOY SOLDIERS.

Continuing to Deploy

Bring Us Home Now

Marty's Marauders have been deploying all over the Houston area since the Memorial Day weekend. Their current mission is "top secret". Sorry no photos. Kommander Marty cannot jeopardize their mission.

careful there be dragons here . . .

Okay first, I don't own a digital camera, so you will have to take my word on this.

Second, I basically live in Pleasantville. Very Bush and Bible lovin' Pleasantville.
Nothing UNpleasant ever goes on (or is talked about anyhow), and everything is shiny and nice. So naturally in this kind of town once a year it would be perfectly natural to post - in the extremely pleasant, and tasteful - downtown area 4foot dragon statues that have each been painted by different (here I would so love to say, I ache to say artists) 'groups', with different 'themes'. There's the USA Soccer Dragon (go team! - oops, sorry), there's the 'Happily Ever After Dragon' and so on. There are actually some cool ones done in mosaic, or with a really original themes (2 years ago it was Bears, and someone actually stole the "Love Me Tender Elvis Bear"!! - the town is yet to get over the shock). It's all for a good cause, because at the end of . . . ? hmmm not sure - all the lovely rich people get together and have a grand dinner and auction and bid on the "oh so cute and 'pleasant' dragons" and all the money goes to the United Way and everyone is happy with themselves. What they do with the damn things I have no idea...

Oh! My point? Yes, sorry. Well undeterred by the overwelming sweetness, dodging women in pink track suits and french manicured toes with children whose shoes cost more than my entire closet, these kommando soldiers fearlessly were deployed on the most 'pleasantest' of dragons, AND outside a very popular coffee shop. I am proud to say never did they blink, or shirk their duty and remained standing proudly as I managed a quiet get-a-way in the barney-purple-soccer-mom mini van, feeling honoured to have been associated with them.

Fourth of July

The plane says "Bomb with butter"; the soldier says "Bring us home from Iraq"; the tank says "Bring us home"; the deposit slip says "Bank of America."




While shooting this photo, three kids from across the street came running at me, and started bombing me with water balloons. One shouted something about wanting my camera. It was interesting.

ESTABLISHING A BEACHHEAD:MICHIGAN MILITIA

First off, I'd like to add a link to unbrainwashed, which has a partial list of why this war is wrong. That said, it was a very successful campaign, securing at beachhead at Grand Haven, summer tourist destination for Michigan.
Our first kommando was employed at a gas'n'go, at the intersection of two highways. Unfortunately, no photo.

This is our first kommando, snapped as he reached the beach. It was a beautiful day and the beach was filled with people, from our secured position all the way to the pier and lighthouse two miles away.
Forward we moved, securing the pavillion at the State Park. (no photos). Then kommandos were deployed at various campgrounds as we moved our way towards the pier. There was also a camper bathroom facility with newspaper machines out front where we deployed another one.

Then, it was off to the pier. The pier has large rocks alog oneside we thought perfect for deployment. As we deployed one, a teenage girl came by with her mom, picked one up and commented how cool it was(she may have taken it, okay, because there is a link to here on the back).
We walked to the end of the pier where we deployed more kommandos on the steps to the lighthouse. Then it was back to shore, where deployed even more, tossing them at sandcastles as we made our way back to our blanket. As we packed up to leave, an elderly couple came by and saw our original kommando, picked it up and noticed the message. All in all, a successful Independence day campaign!