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Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: August 09, 2011 03:37AM

Two former US security contractors may sue former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for his role in their alleged torture in Iraq, a court has ruled.

Two former US security contractors may sue former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for his role in their alleged torture in Iraq, a court has ruled.

US citizens Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel said they were held for months by US troops under harsh conditions.

They said they were detained in retaliation for efforts to reveal illegal activities by their employer.

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that former Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld had no immunity in the case.

"Plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to show that Secretary Rumsfeld personally established the relevant policies that caused the alleged violations of their constitutional rights during detention," the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Chicago, ruled in a 2-1 decision on Monday that upheld a decision by a lower US district court.

'Nightmarish scene'
The decision is the second this month in which US judges have ruled Mr Rumsfeld may be sued by US citizens who alleged torture in Iraq at the hands of US troops.

Last week, a US district judge in Washington ruled separately that a former American military contractor who also claims he was tortured in Iraq could sue Mr Rumsfeld.

The government said the contractor was suspected of helping pass information to the enemy, although he was never charged.

According to court records filed in the latest case, in 2005 and 2006 Mr Vance and Mr Ertel were working in Iraq for Shield Group Security, a privately-held security company, when they became suspicious the company was making improper payments to Iraqi officials in exchange for influence, and that its employees were engaged in illicit weapons-trafficking and other illegal activity.

The men began feeding information to US government officials in Iraq until, in April 2006, the company confiscated their credentials to enter the Baghdad Green Zone, effectively barring them from the safest part of the war-ravaged country, according to their court pleadings.

Then, US military personnel detained them, confiscated their belongings, handcuffed and blindfolded them and took them to a military base in Baghdad, where they were fingerprinted, strip-searched and locked in a cage.

They were then taken to Camp Cropper near Baghdad International Airport, where they "experienced a nightmarish scene in which they were detained incommunicado, in solitary confinement, and subjected to physical and psychological torture for the duration of their imprisonment - Vance for three months and Ertel for six weeks", the court wrote, reiterating the men's allegations.

'No immunity'
The men claim they were deprived of sleep, food and water, held in extremely cold cells without warm clothing, and threatened with beatings.

They were ultimately released at the Baghdad airport and were never charged or designated security risks.

"Vance and Ertel both allege that they were devastated physically and emotionally by what they endured at the hands of their own government," the court wrote.

The men later sued Mr Rumsfeld, who was secretary of defence from 2001 to November 2006 under former President George Bush, and other unnamed US officials.

In seeking to have the case dismissed, Mr Rumsfeld and the administrations of Mr Bush and current President Barack Obama argued among other things that Mr Rumsfeld had immunity for actions taken while working as defence secretary and that US citizens cannot sue for violations of their rights that occurred in war zones.

The defendants also argued the courts may not have a say in US military and detention policy.

In rejecting the request to dismiss the case, the court ruled on Monday the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged that Mr Rumsfeld had played a personal role in authorising the harsh treatment to which they had been subjected while in US custody.

War 'second-guessed'
But the court said it remained to be seen whether Mr Rumsfeld had actually done so.

In a statement, a lawyer for Mr Rumsfeld said the decision to allow the suit "saps the effectiveness of the military, puts American soldiers at risk, and shackles federal officials who have a constitutional duty to protect America".

"Having judges second-guess the decisions made by the armed forces halfway around the world is no way to wage a war," David Rivkin said in a statement.

The US justice department could appeal against the ruling to the full panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals or to the US Supreme Court.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14453895

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: August 09, 2011 03:39AM

Do you think Rumsfeld should be locked up if found guilty? If so... how long do you think he should be locked up?

If you don't think he should be locked up. Please tell us why.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2011 03:40AM by Firrat.

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: August 09, 2011 03:57AM

Wikipedia:
Shield Groups Security (SGS) was an Iraqi company that provided protection for businesses and organizations. It was established in 2003 and switched its name to National Shield Security (NSS) sometime after April 2006. According to the NSS's website, it has performed security services for infrastructure projects and performs extensive background checks on all "host country personnel". NSS offers services relating to security, threat assessment, satellite and radio communications, training, translation, and emergency planning.[1]
Donald Vance, a US Navy veteran working for the company, suspected the company of illegal gun running when he noticed excessive stockpiling of weapons. He became an FBI informant alleging corruption on the part of the Iraqis running the company until he was arrested with American co-worker Nathan Ertel when American soldiers raided the company.[2] Both Vance and Ertel were interrogated under suspicion of gun running, then tortured. Ertel was released after one month of imprisonment; however, Vance was held for 97 days. It took the military three weeks to contact the FBI and confirm that Vance was an informant. The executives of the company have never been charged with any wrongdoing.


Legal Case
On December 18, 2006, Vance filed suit against the US government and the former US Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, on grounds that he was tortured and his rights of habeas corpus were violated.[1] He is being represented by Arthur Loevy, Jon Loevy and Michael Kanovitz of the law firm Loevy & Loevy. His suit against the US government and Donald Rumsfeld allege that he was subject to the following unlawful procedures:
false arrest
unlawful detention
unlawful search and seizure
denial of right to counsel in interrogations - coerced statements
denial of Sixth Amendment right to counsel
denial of right to confront adverse witnesses
denial of right to present witnesses and evidence, and to have exculpatory evidence disclosed
unlawful conditions of detention
denial of necessary medical care
denial of property without due process
On September 21, 2007, Vance testified before a Senate Democratic Policy Committee on abuses in private security and reconstruction in Iraq during a hearing on Capitol Hill. He spoke about several events such as Shield Group Security brokering a deal with the South Korean government for small arms. He also spoke about Shield Group selling small arms to people operating within the U.S State Dept. During the proceeding Senator Byron Dorgan who chaired the committee asked Vance to turn over documents reflecting these weapon sales. Vance stated he would do so and also include hundreds of other pages including emails, photos and other documents reflecting SGS's criminal activities.
On September 26, 2007 during an Appropriations Committee hearing, Senator Byron Dorgan asked Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates to investigate the detention of Donald Vance. Senator Dorgan also relayed during the committee hearing that he has submitted a request to the inspector generals office for a complete investigation. Sen. Dorgan called Vance's detention by the U.S military "frightening".

If you pay attention to Sen. Byron Dorgan....You will find that he has exposed a lot of fraudulent activities by multiple contractors in Iraq. You can usually catch him on C-span exposing his findings. I believe we need about 99 more of him in the senate.

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: August 09, 2011 04:07AM

Sen. Byron Dorgan has presented his findings about the fraudulent activities by Brown & Kelogg in 2010's senate hearing on C-span.


US files suit to stop defense contractor fraud commited by Kellogg Brown & Root Services (KBR)
In a February 18, 2011 press release, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that the government will intervene and participate in the lawsuit against Kellogg Brown & Root Services Inc (KBR).

Whistleblower helps stop Defense Contractor Fraud by KBR under the False Claims Act
A citizen whistleblower and former KBR employee, James A. Brady III, filed suit under the False Claims Act. His 2007 suit alleges that KBR violated The Act with respect to a contract awarded for LOGCAP III.

LOGCAP III involved providing logistical support and maintenance duties for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Iraq.

As is common, KBR used subcontractors to fulfill some of those obligations. In particular, Brady’s suit says that a Turkish subcontractor, Yuksel-Reysas, assumed operations and maintenance responsibilities at army camps around Mosul, Iraq.

Brady contends in his suit that KBR breached the False Claims Act when it was not able to account for some materials used in the Yuksel-Reysas subcontract.

"We’ve decided to pursue the allegation that money that was intended to support the troops was instead used to pay claims that were false," said Jim Lewis, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois.

As is often the case in these False Claims cases, the government, after studying the suit, or looking at investigatory evidence, may intervene and add its resources to prosecute the original suit.

Such was the case today. The government requested of the court a 60-day stay to prepare its own allegations.

The False Claims Act has been a very effective tool in rooting out defense contract fraud and other kinds of waste and unaccountability of funds as in this case. The Act allows citizens to file lawsuits in the name of the United States when they feel fraud or misappropriation of funds has taken place.

In addition to doing their patriotic duty, filers, called relators, stand to share in any funds or settlements recovered by the government.

http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/cases/kellogg-brown.html

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: August 09, 2011 04:12AM

This is one out of many fraudulent cases that Sen. Byron Dorgan has presented involving contractors. He presented that certain projects that cost the United States Gov millions were abandoned. One example he gave was a jail being built that was no where complete, but it had cost the US government millions. He mentioned that the contractor was given millions to complete 100% of the project. It was only 40-50% complete before the jail idea was abandoned. In fact this contractor was given a bonus by the U.S. government for a great job.

After presenting fraudulent activities by US contractors he turned to ask a very good question. How is our money being managed by our government? Unfortunately these events prove that our money is not being spent wisely. These reckless spending's, and more shady activities have succeeded unnoticeable in the dark.

This does not mean blame Obama(these spending's have succeeded when Bush was president).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2011 04:30AM by Firrat.

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: August 31, 2011 10:32PM


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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Shadow ()
Date: September 01, 2011 06:10PM

Having fun talking to yourself, firrat?

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: September 03, 2011 10:42PM

Shadow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Having fun talking to yourself, firrat?


Technically I'm not. 111 views show that I'm talking to multiple people. My viewers are not posters who keep returning to post back, and forth that increases the "views" amount. It actually shows that my topic attracts more interest, and more people, than a thread that may have 111 views and 50 posts due to consecutive returns to replies.

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: eesh ()
Date: September 03, 2011 10:56PM

You are a delusional idiot, Fur Rot.

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: September 03, 2011 11:41PM

Hrm... 15,285 posts. I'm looking forward to your 15,286th post to beat your 15,285th post in idiocy. Can you out do yourself?

User Profile : Firrat
Email: Hidden
Posts: 937
Registered: 02/19/2006 09:09AM
Last Activity: 09/03/2011 11:25PM


User Profile : eesh
Email: Hidden
Real Name: Sugar Skull
Posts: 15,285
Registered: 07/23/2009 12:10PM
Last Activity: 09/03/2011 11:16PM

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: eesh ()
Date: September 03, 2011 11:47PM

You are a pompous idiot, Fur Rot.

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: September 04, 2011 02:00AM

Eesh is the Warren Buffett of ffx underground. "Views" went up 20% after Eesh showed.

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: eesh ()
Date: September 04, 2011 02:05AM

You are a crazy idiot, Fur Rot.

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: Firrat ()
Date: September 04, 2011 02:29AM

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You are a crazy idiot, Fur Rot.


I was hoping you changed at least 2 words from your sentence the 3rd time, Eesh.

All you did was replace delusional with pompous, and pompous with crazy. I see you've expanded your vocab in 15,288 posts.



User Profile : eesh
Email: Hidden
Real Name: Sugar Skull
Posts: 15,288
Registered: 07/23/2009 12:10PM
Last Activity: 09/04/2011 02:18AM

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Re: Donald Rumsfeld established policies that caused violations of their constitutional rights
Posted by: eesh ()
Date: September 04, 2011 02:34AM

You are a flaky idiot, Fur Rot.

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