Halliburton allegedly pulling the plug on GI communications

[Newsjock]

From a blog, so I didn't put this in LBN.
http://www.kathryncramer.com/wblog/archives/000549.html

A week after a scandal broke involving photos of American troops torturing Iraqi prisoners, Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown, & Root is pulling the plug on private electronic communications with the folks back home, apparently at the request of the Department of Defence. See, for example, this note from military blogger ginmar:

I might be getting transferred within the next week to anotehr post. At the very least, KBR is not allowing any private computers on their system for the next ninety days. There might be one other option, but if you don't hear from me for a while...God, I don't know what I'll do about the kitty.

... Patrick Nielsen Hayden remarks: Email from a friend with contacts among American troops in Iraq prompts me to wish some journalist would investigate reports that the military has ordered KBR, which provides net connectivity for US camps and bases in Iraq, to cut off all soldiers’ “inessential” access to email and the net for the next 90 days.

more

[theivoryqueen]

1. damage control and communications blackout

they wish they could pull that with all media. Wave of the future? Okay - sorry to skew "bleak" - if something is essential, GI's might be able to find a willing coalition of the willing member to send it for them.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

41. They did.

(see "embedded reporting" and "editorial control")

[Hubert Flottz]

2. I thought the DOD supported the troops, but looks like they ..........

support covering Bush's ass! Next the press will be kicked out!

[liarliartieonfire]

4. So which top level Halliburton/KBR exec. ordered this????

DICK CHENEY???!!!!!

Damed nazi *ucker!

[DemoTex]

3. Oh that Bu$h! He and his friends are ever so clever!

Choke the potential source of bad press. What a fucking Nazi tactic. I'm nauseated at these two-bit amateurs. Their every move is so predictable that it amazes even my dogs (who, here-to-fore, were only amazed by their sense of smell).

[mediaman007]

5. We had the perfect opportunity to show the World how a democracy should

function. We could be open, honest, and transparent.

Instead we proved that we are no better than some, and worse than many. I don't see Canada, Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark having our problems. Maybe we aren't the beacon of democracy.

I guess the Freepers prove that. I thought that they had core beliefs (God, family, etc.), but those don't stand in the way of power. They will compromise any of their values to conquer the World.

I can't remember being that way after Clinton was elected.

[leftchick]

6. MG MILLER...

This is not suprising given the fact they have put the fox in charge of the henhouse. MG Jeffrey Miller cleaned up GITMO and is going to clean up Abu Ghraib! Which really means they will continue to tortutre but this time it will NOT be recorded.

[Flubadubya]

24. Or in other words....

the devolution will not be televised! :grr:

[peacetalksforall]

7. I think we have a link here, professor.

Methinks the photos were sent through Kellogg Root Brown or is that already a known?

[revcarol]

40. KBR Communications, is what I understand.

Traffic limited to "essential" communications.

Thought people could communicate freely? Not in the Bush administration.Reporters harassed and threatened with loss of access, library and book purchases can be taken, people who draw cartoons against Bush outrages are fired., editors "let go," now SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN CAN'T CONTACT THEIR FAMILIES.

[mike_c]

8. kick....

This is muy importante.

:kick:

[SoCalDem]

9. My friend in the "Green Zone" has difficulty emailing already

I was so worried about him, and finally heard from him..Modern communications are making it difficult for the big shots to keep a lid on the ugly stuff..

in other wars, letters were censored, and most GIs did not tell their loved ones the really bad stuff anyway, but modern instantaneous communication changes everything.. A GI can use a digital camear and in a matter of seconds his/her pictures are on the web, and no negatives or processing to bother with..( no incriminating evidence either)...

Those pictures do not even need to remain online in the picture storage area permanently.. Someone else could copy them , and at a prearranged time, the originator, can just delete them from his/her webspace.. they are truly anonymous..

I can foresee a time when military people will not be allowed to have cell phones, cameras or access to computers at all.. They are way less worried about the atrocities, than they are about the public finding out..

[Tinoire]

10. A kick for Cheney! n/t

[althecat]

11. This looks like a job for Will Pitt :)

[Bluebear]

12. Kick, where is the media on this?

Incommunicado from the folks back home for damage control....how heartwarming.

[nolabels]

13. Yea, what are they going to do next read their mail and cut out tongues?

The hapless trying to do damage control, these kind of things should do wonders for reenlistment and the up coming draft.

[LizW]

14. Hmmm. Sounds like a collective punishment.

While Rummy and Myers and the rest scowled at us and cautioned the public not to judge all the troops by the abhorrent actions of "a handful", it seems it's just fine for KBR/Halliburton to punish all for the actions of a few. Somebody spilled the beans on the way we treat Iraqi detainees, and Bush* looks bad, so everyone must suffer by losing e-mail.

[nostamj]

15. these idiots!

it won't work,
it can't work.

THIS will come back to bite them on the already festering, seeping wounds they've inflicted on themselves

[bobbieinok]

16. is this posted yet on the soldier-family web sites??

from what Mari was posting, alot of pressure is put on families to 'shut up'

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

42. Unless of course you are all smiles about Iraq and shrubco. Then you

can talk all you want, they'll even give you a mike and TV camera!

[bobbieinok]

17. domestic email and internet next???? already a plan to tax!!!

[JimT]

18. the problem

I guess torture is not the problem, just people finding out about it is. :grr:

[Hubert Flottz]

19. Kick!

A VERY important story! Time to blast this to the news paper editors and raise HOLY Hell! This is clearly an attack on freedom of speech! This DOES NOT support the troops! This is about what I expected out of these RATS! I'm posting this link elsewhere and I'd advise EVERYONE to do the same thing! This directly effects my family!

[doni_georgia]

20. Not surprising - unfortunately

Think back to the beginning of the "war." The only news we got were from imbedded reporters. Their stories were highly censored, and they were only allowed to report what the military pre aprroved. Bush treasures secrecy above all things. This is the SOP of this government. There were numerous gag orders placed on the media - no showing coffins returning from Iraq, no showing dead bodies, etc. Well, one thing the Bush* administration didn't count on was that the soldiers themselves would be taking photos of what they were doing and sending them home via the Internet. Oops! How many solidiers have sent home stories that conflict with the official word out of Washington? Not even talking about the Abu Ghraib photos here, but other information that has come out of Iraq via soldiers' emails. Then there are the photos from Abu Ghraib. So much easier to punish our entire military by taking away email that to actually do something about WHO IS IN CHARGE at the prison facilities in Iraq. The solidiers in this war are pawns of an administration who sees them as expendible - period. It's a corporate war just like this is a corporate administration. There's not a decision made anywhere that the big gun donors to the RNC aren't consulted with.

[anarchy1999]

21. This is an outrage. They can't cut us off from the people we are trying

to support. Can they? Oh, yes, they can and they are! This is so F&*&^%%$@# up! I'm so angry and I know there is nothing, not one single thing I can do to change this.

WTF!!

[Hubert Flottz]

23. You can see to it that every news paper sees this story!

This is an outrage! When a unit is attacked and the story is on TV the wives and kids at home can find out if their loved ones are ok ASAP via the net! Now the people at home will sit and worry and suffer because the DOD's most important mission is to Cover Bush's Royal Ass!

[BeFree]

22. Reminds me of something

Something I have been thinking about.

The Constitution says Congress shall pass no law restricting the right of a free press.

Well, if we, the people, will just make our internet known as a real Free Press, no law shall ever be made which restricts it.

What is DU, if not Free Press?

[nolabels]

48. The law of the land is what they wish to take away

They cannot have what they want and it too, so guess what they want to get rid off

http://www.religioustolerance.org/amend_1.htm

Current support for the First Amendment:

The First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN conducts a public opinion poll on an annual basis. The results for the year 2000 show that support for first amendment freedoms is not particularly strong in some areas. First Amendment Center director, Kenneth Paulson, said that "While Americans respect the First Amendment as an ideal, increasingly they're ambivalent when it protects offensive ideas or troubling speech or art or music." The results for their poll taken in 2000 show:
Two thirds of American adults favor the banning of hate speech. This troubles many civil rights supporters. As Ken Paulson said: "The problem with that is it's so easy to characterize what someone else says that offends you as 'hate speech.' "
53% favor the banning of speech critical of religions. Paulson said. "That's an astonishing number. Are we really ready to say that you can't talk about religion in the public sector because it might offend someone of another faith? "
"37% of those polled couldn't name even one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. Those freedoms are: the right to worship, speak, publish, assemble, and raise grievances with the government." 4
(snip)

I don't think the people that wrote the American State papers envisioned permanent standing armies invading on the offense. If the people ever seize control of the government that belongs to them, maybe someone could put a request in to make the government a little more responsible to adhering to the laws as they written.

[enough]

25. If we can find corroboration, this should be a major story.

I haven't been able to find any other mention of this, but my Goggling skills are pretty rudimentary. Have to keep looking. Any word of this from DU folks who are in touch with military people over there?

If true, I guess they are waking up VERY LATE to the power of the net to break through their walls of falsehood.

[Hubert Flottz]

26. Kick!

:kick:

[Jim__]

27. This is pretty much what I expected

They are addressing the problem as they see it. The problem is not the torture of prisoners. The problem is that the fact of the torture leaked out.

[anarchy1999]

28. Kicking up to the TOP!

Front Page, all day. Who is in? We have to stop this! 90 days, no communication? WTF! I am so pissed off right now. They can't do this!

[PaDUer]

29. Webcams being used today..

for Mother's Day for the GI families..Was on our local news this am..The family must report to the local hdqtrs and had to be prearranged so they had their time "coordinated".

[Hubert Flottz]

30. Was that local GESTAPO headquarters?

I knew this would happen!

[PaDUer]

36. Yep...the place

where some of the "abusers" hail from!! Yet, these wives are so damned brainwashed saying "what a great job they're doing in Iraq"!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

31. The extremely damaging photos and video have already fled the barn...

...it's WAY too late for the NeoCons to attempt to shut the barn door. Shutting down the comms is going to do nothing to keep the lid on this scandal.

[ethereal]

32. Welcome to Amerika

n/t

[PaDUer]

37. That's right...you can bet

there's families and friends who already have them downloaded on their PC's at home or wherever. And, there's no way anyone's going to admit where they've sent them to..You can bet the honchos are checking those systems now to see who sent what and where!

[Karenina]

52. It's ALSO gonna piss off

a WHOLE LOTTA FOLKS. These *guys have raised stupid to an art form.

[kentuck]

33. I knew this was going to happen....

I'm just surprised it took them this long...

[kimchi]

34. Kick for free speech. n/t

[donsu]

35. kick

nt

[thecrow]

38. KICK! n/t

[uncertainty1999]

39. nothing to see here .. carry on (NOT!)

this is so sick.

[Karenina]

43. It's ridiculous.

The has left the barn. So it won't help them there. However, it makes me QUITE nervous for the troops. :scared: :scared: :scared:

[Lorien]

44. Damned demoralizing for the troops

which is to say, things just got a little more dangerous out there. :grr:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

45. Email is a critical lifeline for soldiers in that situation. I paid big

bux to dialup Florida for my email when I was stationed in Guantanamo (base internet and email services were just being born then). Don't know what I would have done without it.

No doubt they are trying to prevent whatever photos/vids they don't have access to from emailing out, until they can find and destroy it. I'm sure the troops' morale will be great with this. Stop-lossed, extended past a year, and now no email. Woohoo vote Repub in the fall!

[cosmicdot]

46. ours will go down this Autumn -> October Surprise No. ___

this is how the good ol'boy mindset works -> their solution generally makes matters worse

[Don_G]

47. Another Source

From the "Horse's Mouth": http://www.livejournal.com/users/ginmar/264278.html

[Gingersnap]

49. kick

:kick:

[VolcanoJen]

50. Just so I'm clear on this... Cheney made a phone call, right?

That didn't take long.

[reprobate]

51. Here's my LTTE. Where's yours?

I've been told today by several friends with family members in Iraq that they will no longer be able to communicate via email with their loved ones. Apparently KBR Communications, a division of Cheney's Halliburton, which provides internet connections from Iraq, will no longer allow any private computers to access the internet on their lines in Iraq.

Until now when a soldiers unit was attacked he or she could, immediately after, send a "HI, Mom, I'm OK" message home. This will no longer be possible. The families will just have to worry, until the uniform appears at their door with bad news.

I support our troops. You support our troops. In fact, it seems that everyone except the civilian leadership at the Pentagon supports our troops. Apparently this is their version of how to stop any more scandals from getting out of Iraq. Instead of fixing the problem, just keep it from being made public next time.

What a wonderful Mothers day gift.

We are counting on you, at the Orlando Sentinel, to make this known to all. As a member of the free press, I think it's your duty to disseminate this information. This cannot stand.