Truck drivers appeal Iraqi ambush case (Halliburton knowingly sent them)

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

Truck drivers appeal Iraqi ambush case
By JOHN PORRETTO, Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON - Lawyers for civilian truckers who drove into a deadly ambush in Iraq nearly four years ago are getting a new chance to revive their case in a rare closed hearing before a federal appeals court.

Former KBR Inc. truck drivers and families of those killed say the former Halliburton subsidiary knowingly sent the truckers into a dangerous zone where they were attacked by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004.

The ambush killed six KBR drivers and two soldiers and seriously injured numerous others. One KBR trucker, plaintiff Reginald Lane, lost an arm and suffered irreparable brain damage.

A federal judge in Houston threw out their lawsuit against Halliburton in September 2006, ruling the Army played an integral part in decisions to deploy the convoys and that the judiciary had no authority to second-guess the military in a battlefield situation.

Several former drivers and families appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, where a three-judge panel is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday. In an unusual move, the appeals court agreed to close the hearing to the public.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080129/ap_on_re_us/kbr_truckers_killed

[gratuitous]

1. Another "unusual" closed hearing

Nice to see our elected representatives all over this. Closed court proceedings are virtual pronouncements that they're doing something extra-legal.

[Winterblues]

2. Contractors in Iraq are Immune from all prosecution and or law suits

One of the very first things Paul Bremer put into place there.

[saigon68]

3. Stooge Paul Bremer = War Criminal