Halliburton's Statement re Attacked Convoy Caught On Tape...Excuse Me?!

[me b zola]

The following is Halliburton's statement re the attacked convoy where three of their drivers were killed and was caught on tape, per MSNBC's Scarborough Country:

"{Halliburton's} priority has always been the safety and security of its employees, regardless of where they work around the world. The U.S. military has command and control of all {Halliburton} convoys in Iraq, such as supplying pre-trip threat assessments and determining routes, and is required to provide security for {Halliburton's} employees through the company's contract with the Army. Every potential employee on the...contract receives very specific warnings about the dangers of working in a war zone."



Cathy Mann
Director, Communications
Halliburton

There are a few serious issues that jump out at me from this statement:

1. It seems that Halliburton (once again) avoids liability by working under the military--without the oversite and legal obligations. "The military was command & control..."

2. Why is our military doing the dangerous grunt work for a company who is profiteering from the lawlessness in Iraq? I thought that Halliburton's KBR specializes in security--oh, that's right, they have to pay their security personnel upwards of $100,000/year to work in Iraq, and besides, why would they send out their highly paid personnel when Cheney/Rumsfeld will send them military personel to work for them for free?!

3. How many of our men & women in uniform have died protecting Halliburton? I really want to know.

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. Those are good questions that we

as citizens deserve answers to.

[Kagemusha]

2. Um, they're trucking military resources.

You'd rather the military personnel trained to fire a rifle handle a driver's wheel instead? With the shortages that exist? Or would you prefer a draft to ensure that a good American militaryman draftee is driving instead?

That's the military protecting military convoys transporting military gear with drivers that happen to be privately employed. What the hell is your problem with that?

[me b zola]

4. No, I'd rather the contracts went to the Iraqis

...and the Iraqis could provide their own security.

Much of what is shipped in and needs to be moved by convoy is to support the large number of contractors that are there profiteering off of the war on Iraq. Here's a great PBS Frontline documentary to illistrate my point:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/view/






edited for spelling--there is no their there :)

[Kagemusha]

6. At least the Halliburton convoys have security at all.

The Iraqis would be killed in such large numbers that it'd be worse than having no ground supply at all.

Go ahead and blame Halliburton for being paid to move materials all you like, but saying good American lives are being expended to save Halliburton drivers... who I presume are Americans also... it's military resources, and if the military gives a damn about those resources getting to US bases, why shouldn't it act like it? At any rate these are drivers, not rent-a-paramilitary. There's no reason for essentially wishing for their deaths.

[me b zola]

13. Excuse me, but I'm not wishing for *anyone's* death

The US military has long been able to supply themselves with the necessary goods in a war zone. The privatization of our military is bad on many levels:

~Moral of the military. There has been a lot written about the effect that bush/cheney's private military is having on our men & women who are in uniform. Just one issue: many of the reservists & NG have taken huge pay cuts, often putting their families in danger of losing their home or business, to fulfull their duty.

~The Iraqis need jobs. How do you think the insurgency gained strength? No infrastructure (water, electricity, school, etc..) and no job to go to.

~War profiteering is illegal--and wrong. This is also why the price tag for Iraq is beyond belief. $300,000 billion...so far!!




I want peace and long lives for everyone involved. This will not happen as long as there is an American presence in Iraq.

[Kagemusha]

14. As I pointed out in the first place, solving this means a draft.

Because Americans risking their lives for Iraqi drivers is not an improvement, and Iraqis providing their own security... who do you think can provide securiy there? Government troops? HA! You'd have the militias monopolizing military transportation security... and don't think for a second that cash is the only way they'd be paid off.

[TomInTib]

3. That bit about "a textbook response" was bullshit.

I just saw it on CNN.

Bullshit. You are a guntruck commander leading the lead vehicle of a convoy and the lead vehicle becomes totally disabled.

You sure as hell don't run off to a safe distance to lay down covering fire.

You flank the fucking vehicle and rescue the driver.

Sorry about the language but I am pissed off.

If that was a 'textbook response' then re-write the goddamned book.

[Dem2theMax]

5. If this is true:

"{Halliburton's} priority has always been the safety and security of its employees, regardless of where they work around the world."

then why do they want their workers to sign forms stating that they won't SUE Halliburton?

Yeah, I REALLY believe Halliburton. :sarcasm:

[havocmom]

7. Didn't the military used to do their own supply-line, logistics and basic

stuff like getting food, water, fuel to their own troops ? Privatizing that has made hostages of our troops. Halliburton gets what ever it wants or the troops are stranded without food, bullets, left to starve.

Halliburton and subsidiaries would not be in Iraq having their people shot at, in convoys supplying the troops, were it not for Halliburton's puppet, Dick Cheney lying us into a war in Iraq.

Our troops would not be getting slaughtered in Iraq if they didn't have to be providing security for the Halliburton convoys of supplies.

The circle goes round and round, squeezing billions out of the US Treasury and squeezing the life out of human beings, military and civilian, American and Iraqi.

It is total madness. And it has to stop. They are turning our troops and their civilian workers into dollars. They are squeezing blood out of people and turning it into money.

They have NO moral authority. None. It has to stop. Make sure they hear that.

[me b zola]

10. I think that this may be the way to turn around the nasty rw talking point

"Cut & run". Cut off Halliburton and let them run their own damn business without getting our military ( our fathers, mothers, brother, sisters, sons & daughters) killed for their profits.

I would love to hear a Dem say this the next time a talking head spews that stupid talking point.

[me b zola]

8. What is the noble cause that they are dying for?

Fat contracts for bush/cheney cronies.

[spindrifter]

9. Someone posted the video

taken by one of the drivers on DU recently (within the past week). It was genuinely horrifying. The drivers work alone--i.e., there is one person per truck. They are unarmed. They are totally dependent on whoever is providing security. There is no way that I could see that a convoy of 12 trucks running on what is essentially a lane and 2/3 of road is going to get adequate protection under what seemed to be their protocol.

[me b zola]

11. Thanks for the reminder 8>)

Here are a few links:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2237291

http://www.vidiac.com/video/72d2d6d0-410d-4a9b-ae52-9844002a3e32.htm

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/reports/ambush_abb.ram

[spindrifter]

12. The vidiac film is the one I was referring to.

Thanks for posting the link.

[me b zola]

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