On April 10, 2006, President Bush spoke at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. One student, who had previously asked then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about the legal gray area seemingly occupied by private military contractors such as Blackwater and Halliburton in Iraq, questioned the President directly.
One former employee of KBR, a division of Halliburton, found out that the arbitration agreement she was bound by while working in Iraq could also serve to prevent her from pursuing charges against coworkers she charges sexually harassed, drugged and brutally raped her in 2005.
Jamie Leigh Jones, founder of the Jamie Leigh Foundation, offered a grisly account of her attack in testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, saying that colleagues, on her reporting the assault, held her captive and attempted to prevent her from communicating with the outside world. Jones also ran the risk of losing her job. One guard, she says, allowed her to use a cellular phone to call her father, who in turn called their congressman, who helped her return home.
Other women, through the Jamie Leigh Foundation, have since come forward.
The 2006 exchange between the Johns Hopkins student and the President, with transcript, is available for viewing below. The entire speech, with audience questions, is transcribed at whitehouse.gov.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. It's an honor to have you here. I'm a first-year student in South Asia studies. My question is in regards to private military contractors. Uniform Code of Military Justice does not apply to these contractors in Iraq. I asked your Secretary of Defense a couple months ago what law governs their actions.
THE PRESIDENT: I was going to ask him. Go ahead. (Laughter.) Help. (Laughter.)
Q I was hoping your answer might be a little more specific. (Laughter.) Mr. Rumsfeld answered that Iraq has its own domestic laws which he assumed applied to those private military contractors. However, Iraq is clearly not currently capable of enforcing its laws, much less against -- over our American military contractors. I would submit to you that in this case, this is one case that privatization is not a solution. And, Mr. President, how do you propose to bring private military contractors under a system of law?
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that very much. I wasn't kidding -- (laughter.) I was going to -- I pick up the phone and say, Mr. Secretary, I've got an interesting question. (Laughter.) This is what delegation -- I don't mean to be dodging the question, although it's kind of convenient in this case, but never -- (laughter.) I really will -- I'm going to call the Secretary and say you brought up a very valid question, and what are we doing about it? That's how I work. I'm -- thanks. (Laughter.)
del.icio.us 
On April 10, 2006, President Bush spoke at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. One student, who had previously asked then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about the legal gray area seemingly occupied by private military contractors such as Blackwater and Halliburton in Iraq, questioned the President directly..gif)
