Reinstate the draft?

[Karin M Fichtner]

So I read Charlie Rangel's statement today about how he believes we need to reinstate the draft before we get involved in Syria.  Ok.....He's been wanting to put the draft back in for years.....but this time, he says women should be included.  Since women have been approved for combat positions, my son thinks it's only fair.

Your thoughts?

[Karin M Fichtner]

You're talking some serious cash there, Lifesighs.  I agree with you.....but where to come up with that cash? 

[Lifesighs]

Don't make so many bombs, dismantle the bases we don't need across the world. Do what's right for those who serve, make some billionaires cough up a little more cash in taxes.

[frenchy]

well just my 2 cents and since nobody mentioned this .. a lot of guys that are in the volunteer army never volunteered for the kind of duty they ended up with .. the stop loss system .. where they keep on sendin you back to the front lines cause they don't have enough troops,, till you go crazy .. i'm sure they set some kinda suicide record for troops that were certifiable but were sent back anyway ..if they had more troops that served for 2 years they wouldn't have that problem ..or at least not that big of a problem anyway .. cause everyone would know they would get out in 2 years .. lottsa them weekend warriors or national guardsmen never figured on bein called up for active duty that would last for 5 years and longer .. nor did their families .. if they had planned on that it would be different .. but these guys weren't ra or regular army.. they had jobs and businesses and careers and mortgages to pay .. i wondr how many of them lost their jobs and houses and families??  i wonder what the divorce rate was for them national guardsmen that got called up and never planned on it ?? probably a lot higher than the national average .. them guys gave up a lot more than most of us know ..   but then the disadvantaged that decided to make the military a career because they had no other options might not be able to ..or do they let them stay and take the place of the guardsmen who wanna go home ?? it didn't look that way in iraq ..   

[Snagg]

Lifesighs said, "If there were to be a draft, I think it needs to have a clause that says if you go to combat and are willing to give your life for your country you are entitled to stay on the health plan you have in the military for life. The health plan should cover any injuries no matter how severe and especially mental problems.

Those who choose non combat should also have continued health care for a specified number of years."

That won't happen, because war is a business now, and almost never an act of nationalism or moral aggression - Unless you're some podunk resource-free Third World hellhole in the middle of a border skirmish with an equally-ignored hellhole.

We see other people's wars on the news, in which we don't seem to even have a stake, yet we get involved - Because some well-connected big American corporation is usually up to their eyeballs in the politics and business affairs of one of the countries, and keeping that involvement quiet is just a part of the deal. (I read reports the other day that Cheney and Halliburton have already positioned themselves to profit from whatever happens in Syria.) The companies that sell us the tools of war already have their tax dodges in place, all nice and "legal", and the boards of directors know that their kids will never come close to a front line or any military situation more dangerous than a beer bash on a senator's front lawn.

Injured, permanently maimed and traumatized veterans are NOT on the list of concerns for these companies that shovel kids into the meat grinder, and their balance sheets see moral obligations and totally-forseeable consequences like "adequate lifetime medical help" as "unexpected expenses" and communism and an immoral tax burden which they should in no way share with the American people, whose "freedom" these exercises in corporate militarism were claimed to be protecting.

[ProblemAgain]

to sort of wrap a couple of replies in one...

the KBR that i posted about...(which was a subsidiary of halliburton and was run by dick cheney who oh so coincidentally masterminded the blueprint for privatizing the iraq war by contracts with corporations to run certain aspects in order to avoid the books and budgets going through congress) also managed to be involved in the building of the bases which led to 8 american kids being electrocuted in improperly wired shower buildings..and nothing was ever done about THAT either.

and to address frenchy's point....just what do we surmise might happen to a group of young men kept for multiple years in a warzone (some of those kids have done 5 combat tours)..here's a hint...one video that was posted was a group laughing about throwing cute puppies off a cliff complete with the camera following the falls to the rocks below as the american soldiers guffawed...when life is transitory and meaningless in the environment why are we surprised when people become barbarous and discard the fetters of civilization? think 18 year olds laden with testosterone and no one to say no to them...yet congress has held hearings about how detrimental video games are while ignoring what will eventually be unleashed on the public when some of these broken kids come home for good

[Karin M Fichtner]

My son served three tours in Iraq; he is just fine.  My friend's boy served with my son and has served a total of 8 tours....in Afghanistan and Irag.....and won a Bronze Star to boot.  Not a thing wrong with him. 

I agree that some of these young men are exposed to things they can't handle.  That goes without saying.  But there are still strong, decent men and women in the military who keep on keeping on because it's what they signed on the dotted line to do.  They never were promised a rose garden.  I am in favor of shorter tours....less tours.....more aid....physical and psychological.....for these kids who are experiencing difficulties.  Whoever said War is Hell was right.  Only....as someone said recently.....in Hell, there are only sinners; in War, the innocent are often the sufferers. 

By the by....both my son and his friend lost their marriages...and one, a son, due to the war.  If it doesn't get you one way.....it gets you another. 

[ProblemAgain]

i didn't say all ..i said some...the same as post viet nam, there were some vets who never were able to fit back into a peaceful society there will very likely be ptsd vets and of both sexes dotted across the country..some are peaceful and just get nervous around other people....and some can be dangerous..

[Karin M Fichtner]

My son's marriage ended because his wife came home with PTSD and refused to get any help for it. I think she finally went to Bethesda for treatments....but that was quite a while after the divorce.

[Lifesighs]

Changed my mind after reading this...awful terrible.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2008/08/elizabeth-bernard-higgs/u-s-army...

[ProblemAgain]

the magic letters...KBR...go back andread about jamie jones and her fight against kbr...her attorneys found she was one woman of about 40 who had been assaulted and raped in the course of their working for kbr...nothing was ever done about these cases...rape kits go missing....the suspects are flown pout of the country while the victims are held incommunicado til they are gone...and kbr's stance? no proof and it isn't criminal...it is covered under employee grievance procedure as tho it was missed breaks or a short paycheck...this is the 'old boys network' at its worst

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/jamie-leigh-jones-kbr-iraq...

http://agonist.org/no_day_in_court_for_halliburton_employee_raped_b...

Appeals court sends contractor’s case to court

By ANABELLE GARAY © 2009 The Associated Press
Sept. 15, 2009, 7:13PM

DALLAS — The case of a Texas woman who alleges she was gang-raped by co-workers while working for a military contractor in Iraq will go to court instead of arbitration, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

A divided three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Jamie Leigh Jones’ federal lawsuit against Halliburton Co., former subsidiary KBR and several affiliates can be tried in open court.

The companies contended Jones signed an agreement that required claims against the companies to be resolved privately through arbitration.

“This is wonderful news, not only for me but for those who have been bound into mandatory arbitrations,” Jones wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

The AP usually does not identify people alleging sexual assault, but Jones’ face and name have been broadcast in media reports and on her own Web site. She also described her allegations in testimony before a congressional subcommittee.

Jones worked as a clerical worker for KBR at a Halliburton office in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and alleges she was drugged and raped by several Halliburton workers in her company barracks bedroom. She also claims she was placed under armed guard and held in a “prison-like container” for hours after reporting the alleged attack.

KBR and Halliburton, which split in 2007, have disputed Jones’ account of how the companies responded to her allegations.

A lower court found Jones allegations of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring and supervision of employees and false imprisonment did not fall within the scope of the arbitration clause of the contract she signed. Two of the judges from the federal appeals court agreed, with one dissenting.

Halliburton and KBR are headquartered in Houston. Halliburton did not immediately respond to a call for comment Tuesday. KBR spokeswoman Heather L. Browne said the company has not fully reviewed the court’s decision and declined to comment.

[ProblemAgain]

Thirty Republican Senators, KBR, Inc. and the Jamie Leigh Jones Rape Case

By / October 21st, 2009no responses

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by Araminta Wordsworth
Full Comment/network.nationalpost.com
October 21, 2009

Full Comment’s Araminta Wordsworth brings you a regular dose of international punditry at its finest. Today: Jamie Leigh Jones has waited a long time for justice since allegedly being gang-raped in 2005 by fellow employees in Iraq. She’s still waiting, but made some headway when the Senate passed an amendment that will bar U.S. defence firms from valuable government contracts if they refuse to allow employees access to the courts.

But the vote — surprisingly enough, considering the circumstances — wasn’t cut and dry. Thirty Republican senators, including former presidential nominee John McCain, voted against the measure put forward by the newest senator, Al Franken of Minnesota. That set off a furor among Democrats.

“How is anyone against this?” wondered The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.

Jones, who was just 19 when she went to Iraq to work for KBR Inc., a Halliburton subsidiary that was fighting oil fires. She alleges that seven male co-workers spiked her drink with a date rape drug, then brutally assaulted her. When she came to, she says, her employer’s response was to lock her in a shipping container without food, water or a bed for at least 24 hours and threaten that if she left the country for medical treatment she would lose her job.

The woman was only able to escape after a friendly guard handed her a cellphone enabling her to call her father, who called their congressman, Ted Poe of Texas. Jones had to be rescued from captivity by officials at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

Halliburton did nothing to punish the rapists. Neither did the Justice Department or the U.S. military. The company told Jones she could not sue for redress in the courts because her contract said such claims had to be settled by arbitration — with the same people who were part of the cover-up. …

[ProblemAgain]

and this...

What The Jamie Leigh Jones Verdict Says About Rape Culture

• by Jessica Pieklo
• July 9, 2011
• 2:18 pm

• 303

get causes updates

This is one of those posts that I started, and stopped, and started all over again.  It’s a post that has to be written but one I could barely bring myself to write.

Jamie Leigh Jones lost her rape case against Charles Boartz and KBR.

It’s a tragic story and a stark reminder that for women, becoming sexual prey, and then later vilified for speaking out, is unfortunately just part of life.

Jones was working for the Iraq war contractor when she claimed she was drugged and then brutally gang-raped.  Jones blacked out, woke up bruised and bleeding and then when she reported the attack to her employer was locked in a shipping container and denied food and water for at least 24 hours.

The main attacker named in the complaint defended the case by saying the sex he had with Jones, while she was unconscious, was consensual.  And it was enough for a Houston jury to believe.

To beat the charges the defense did what the defense had to do: they went after Jones’ character.  They produced medical experts that testified that her injuries  “may” have been consistent with rape.  They introduced evidence that Jones had alleged rape before, that she had a book deal and that her success post-attack was inconsistent with someone who was claiming psychological injuries.

The defense was shooting for reasonable doubt.  Except there is one problem here.  Reasonable doubt is the standard in a criminal case and Jones’ claims were civil.  All the jury had to do was believe it was more likely than not that Jones was correct and then they were required to find for her.  Think of it as about 51% that Jones was telling the truth.

Instead, the jury found it was more likely than not that Jones consented to sex while unconscious.  The jury found it was more likely than not that Jones’ bleeding and fissured vagina and anus were the result of consensual sex that took place while she was unconscious and that it was more likely than not that, in short, Jones is a liar.

Make no mistake about it, Jones was punished in Texas.  She was punished for being a woman in the rough-and-tumble world of private defense contracting where consent to sex can happen while passed out and where employers have no duty to provide a safe work environment free from assault.  She was punished for being a woman who had the audacity to speak out against her treatment to Congress, to demand an investigation into private security contracting and to step forward as an example for other women.

You see, according to the folks in Houston, Jones had it coming.