Halliburton Gang Rape Victim Continues to Be Denied Justice

What does one say to a young woman gang raped by men paid by us to work for a company from which our vice president profits, men who have yet to be charged with any crime, a company yet to make amends in any way, and a presidential administration effectively granted immunity by our representatives in Congress?

I'm going to interview Jamie Leigh Jones on Tuesday evening, January 15th (8 to 9 p.m. ET), and she'll take questions from the audience. You can listen and participate at http://www.thepeoplespeakradio.net and I certainly hope you will, because I have absolutely no idea myself what I can say to her. What excuse can any of us offer? What words can convey the depth of our shame? What can we commit to doing to help her and others like her?

Jones was hired at age 19 to work for Halliburton in Houston, Texas, and the next year was sent to Iraq to work for Halliburton. She says that she was drugged and raped by numerous coworkers in Baghdad, and was then confined by Halliburton armed guards to a shipping container, denied food, water, or medical help.

Jones used a borrowed cell phone to contact her father, who in turn contacted Representative Ted Poe (R, TX) who contacted the State Department, which freed Jones from Halliburton's shipping container. U.S. Army doctors performed an examination that discovered evidence of vaginal and anal rape, but the sexual assault kit disappeared after being turned over to Halliburton and was later recovered missing some pieces of evidence, including doctor's notes and photographs of Jones' bruises.