Obama Also Seeking Answers to Contract Employee's Allegations
Friday, December 14, 2007
Printable FormatAssociated Press
WASHINGTON (AP)- A second Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, has joined in chastising federal officials over a woman's allegations she was raped while working for a military contractor in Iraq.
Obama, along with Sens. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and Jon Tester, D-Mont., said they sent letters to Attorney General Michael Mukasey and the inspector generals of the Defense and State departments.
The senators want to know whether former KBR Inc. employee Jamie Leigh Jones' allegations were investigated and an explanation if they were not.
"With tens of thousands of American contractors operating in Iraq, we will not tolerate abuse and misconduct, and these contractors must be held accountable to American criminal law," Obama said in the release. Obama introduced legislation earlier this year making contractors subject to criminal law.
On Wednesday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, a New York senator, issued a news release announcing she had sent letters urging an investigation to the State, Justice and Defense departments.
Jones, a former Conroe, Texas, resident, has filed a lawsuit. In her lawsuit, Jones said she was drugged and gang-raped while working at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005. The lawsuit also alleges that she was held for more than a day without food, drinking water or the ability to contact the outside world.
The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on her allegations for Wednesday.
KBR issued a memo to its employees saying it disputes portions of her version and facts. The company has said in official statements that her allegations are without merit and the safety and security of its employees are its top priority.