Jamie Leigh Jones Undermines the War Effort

Rusty Shackleford at The Jawa Report, Curt at Flopping Aces and former humor blogger Ace of Spades (who recently won the Weblog Award for Best Conservative blogger) are three of the most respected conservative bloggers in the blogosphere. They will stop at nothing to protect America from terrorists. If they gave medals for bravery in a war you are not actually fighting in, these guys would win hands down.

A recent story sorely tested their dedication to the war effort, but all three stepped up to the plate and showed just how far they are willing to go to defend America. Jamie Leigh Jones, a contractor for Halliburton/KBR, says she was gang raped by her co-workers, locked in a shipping container and threatened by her bosses. She was finally rescued by the State Department after she got word to her father who contacted Republican congressmen Ted Poe. If true, the story makes Halliburton/KBR look really bad and the fact that a Republican congressman and the State Department got involved lends some credence to her story. But Shackleford, Curt and Ace did not let that stop them from reflexively defending the military contractor and accusing this woman of being a liar in order to support the war effort. They saw that there was something fishy about the story, besides the fact that it is bad PR for Halliburton/KBR.

Although Shackleford, Curt and Ace don't know anything about the case other than what they have seen on the Internet, they apparently do read mystery stories. Anyone who has read detective novels knows that when all the evidence seems to be pointing one way, you can be sure that what the evidence is telling you is the exact opposite of the truth. Usually, the detective reveals this twist at the end, but Shackleford, Curt and Ace decided to skip right to the last chapter instead of waiting to see what other evidence comes out before drawing any conclusions. Ace, quoting his doppelganger the Church Lady, says Jones' story is "too convenient." Curt, who supports actor Fred Thompson for President, says it sounds "too movie like." Shackleford, no doubt wrinkling his brow and rubbing his beard thoughtfully as the wheels spin in his brain, if he has one (a beard, that is), writes, "It's perfect. Too perfect."

Indeed, if the terrorists wanted to undermine the war effort and destroy Western Civilization as we know it, this would be the perfect way to do it. Find an intelligent, attractive young woman to claim she was gang raped by contractors who work at the Vice President's company, and then get a Republican congressman and the State Department to back up part of her story. It's brilliantly evil and almost foolproof! There was just one thing these clever terrorists didn't count on: bloggers like Shackleford, Curt and Ace who would see right through their fiendish plan.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of credulous people out there even on the right. Chris Jones at Red State says he believes her story and is outraged. He doesn't mind if Halliburton/KBR employees rape and murder Iraqis, but he absolutely puts his foot down when it comes to raping Americans. That is going too far. Ben Domenech says he knows several women, including his own sister, who have told him about the "disturbing" treatment of American women working in Iraq and so he tends to believe her as well. Clearly, Domenech's objectivity has been tainted by actually talking to people who have been to Iraq, instead of just talking to himself like Shackleford, Curt and Ace do.

Because Congress wrote a law exempting the alleged perpetrators from prosecution Jones is suing the company for damages. Halliburton/KBR has offered a fair compromise. The company wants to settle the case in arbitration, where records would be sealed, and spare Jones all the bad publicity that would ensue when they attack her reputation in a public trial.

The more you learn about her story the more difficult it is to believe. Although there was a rape kit that confirmed she was sexually assaulted, it was lost and found again and the doctor who performed it doesn't remember doing it. "I have no idea which rape victim you are," the doctor told Jones, "because so many young contractor girls were raped after drinking with the guys…. I performed so many rape kits in the six months that I was stationed there that there would be no way to recall whom yours was." It seems to me the testimony of the doctor alone casts doubt on her allegations and exculpates Halliburton/KBT. Case closed.

Even if her story is true, you have to wonder why Jones doesn't just keep her mouth shut like all the other women the doctor says have been raped in Iraq. Doesn't she realize that such an incendiary charge just gives aid and comfort to the enemy? How can we convince Iraqi women like the young women of Basra -- where 40 of them have been murdered for dressing contrary to Islamic law -- that replacing Saddam Hussein's secular government with an Islamic government actually makes them more free, if American women are not willing to make a few sacrifices to get this message across?

It's not like we are asking only this woman to make a sacrifice for the war effort. Milbloggers like Shackleford are making sacrifices, too. Shackleford really doesn't like attacking an alleged rape victim and trashing her before all the facts have come out. He would prefer we not return to "the not so distant past when some argued that the victim somehow brought the crime on themselves." He thought that we had moved on from that time. "Questioning a rape victim is akin to a second rape," Shackleford writes. "Or so I was always taught." But if protecting America from terrorists means subjecting a woman to something akin to a second rape, then Shackleford, like Curt at Flopping Aces and Ace of Spades, is prepared, however reluctantly, to do his sad duty. Sacrifices must be made. Things are different now. 9/11 changed everything.

Update: Bob Owens, a.k.a. Confederate Yankee, the blogosphere's Miss Marple, is on the case. If anyone can find a link between Jones and the terrorists, he can.

Update 2: Michelle Malkin and Ted Frank at Overlawyered join the fray.

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