“Saddam Hussein had more legal counsel than I ever had.”
By on Dec 18th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
“Saddam Hussein had more legal counsel than I ever had.”
– Navy veteran Donald Vance, who “went to Iraq as a security contractor, became a whistle-blower about possible illegal weapons trading at the firm for which he was working, and ended up being erroneously detained for 97 days at the military’s maximum-security detention facility in Baghdad.”
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Yeah….”erroneously”…
That’s the ticket…
December 18th, 2006 at 2:41 pmSaddam’s trial was a dog and pony show. Sorry you were accidentally detained. Anyone going over there should know what they are getting themselves into, especially folks looking for a quick buck.
December 18th, 2006 at 2:44 pmThere is no such thing as “illegal” in Iraq, sheesh.
December 18th, 2006 at 2:45 pmForTruth sez:
So…let me get this straight. Donald Vance tried to blow the whistle on some people he thought were engaged in an illegal act, and he gets jailed for his trouble…and you feel that he should have ‘expected’ this sort of treatment?
What happened to you?
December 18th, 2006 at 2:49 pmForTruth sez:
OK…I see. I guess there’s no point about discussing the atrocities happening there, then, since apparently all bets are off in Iraq.
I have just one question…are you trolling, or are your thought processes seriously this/i> dysfunctional?
December 18th, 2006 at 2:52 pmMr. Vance is also filing suit against Dumsfeld.
Get in line, Donald, you’re not alone in wanting his ass in jail.
It quite incredible when you think that, in 6 short years, Bushco have turned the entire planet into American haters.
Heckuva job, Bushie.
December 18th, 2006 at 2:56 pmWorst. President. Ever.
Looks like a good starting point for an investigation with subpoenas from the first Democratically controlled committee that has jurisdiction
December 18th, 2006 at 2:59 pmHey Tripmaster,
It was sarcastic, when I said there is no illegal in Iraq. It seems lawless to me. Thats all.
December 18th, 2006 at 3:02 pmThis takes going after a Whistle blower to a new Low.
Yet another example of this administration denying a US Citizen Constitutional Rights.
Bet the Right Wing paints him as UnAmerican.
December 18th, 2006 at 3:04 pmSorry, ForTruth…sometimes it’s difficult to tell.
December 18th, 2006 at 3:05 pmSome Americans Abroad Turn in Passports
December 18th, 2006 at 3:07 pmSo far this year, the Internal Revenue Service has tallied 509 Americans who have given up their citizenship, said Anthony Burke, an I.R.S. spokesman in Washington. He said complete figures were still being calculated.
Well Yeah! He challenged Chaney’s Gravey Boat.
December 18th, 2006 at 3:08 pmTobey, I’m confused: Other than “Don’t TAX me!”, What does the IRS have to do with Giving up Citizenship?
BTW: I think it’s a mistake to leave, but I sure don’t blame anyone…
December 18th, 2006 at 3:13 pmBush accused of gagging critic of Iran policy
The White House yesterday faced fresh accusations of tailoring intelligence to suit its political viewpoint from a former CIA analyst barred from publishing a critical newspaper commentary on American policy towards Iran.
December 18th, 2006 at 3:16 pmI just finished reading this story. Amazing how sad and how far our nation has fallen. This man was treated like an animal, not an American citizen and a veteran. Actually, in America, you would be sent to prison for treating your dog like this.
December 18th, 2006 at 4:08 pmIs he totally brain dead? What SUCCESS in Vietnam? We left there with our tail between our legs – another failed war and foreign policy. I guess he was so pickled on alcohol and potted out that he didn’t see all of the graphic details. This is one war he cannot “spin” or alter the history on – we were there! We had no friggin business going there in the first place just like Iraq, the body count mounted daily and it was clear that the US was losing the battle – just like Iraq – and our vets were treated like garbage when they came home following it – just like Iraq vets when Bush pulls the rug out from under them and cuts off their disability income. I guess that’s what he means by the “success” of Vietnam; sure….the success of screwing our vets to the cleaners! That’s the only success that can be related to the Vietnam war!
December 18th, 2006 at 4:23 pmWhy would any veteran of Iraq believe that his service to this country will be appreciated in terms of disability income when Katrina victims are still being screwed out of anything from the feds right now?
December 18th, 2006 at 4:24 pmTripMaster Monkey,
You are not paying attention. This guy went over to Iraq to be a “security contractor.” Those are fancy words for “mercenary.” So, I am with ForTruth on this one. If you are going to Iraq to make a quick buck, which in this case is making a quick buck killing people, then screw you.
December 18th, 2006 at 4:48 pmForTruth, next time, include /sarc.
I was thinking a troll had begun using your name.
December 18th, 2006 at 5:03 pmS-Boy, Watch “Iraq for Sale” and you’ll see the attraction for vets to become mercenaries. They do the same job they did as soldiers, only get paid 6 figures. This guy saw that the people he was supposed to provide security for were selling arms to the militias and death squads targeting civilians and U.S. soldiers and blew the whistle.
His reward for doing the right thing? Imprisonment under inhumane conditions for three months, by the very government he was trying to help.
Be not too quick to condemn others, ok?
December 18th, 2006 at 5:08 pm17, and what is to prevent the Government from saying someone renounced his/her citizenship, then locking him/her up for life without so much as a hearing under Bush’s Military Commissions Act?
Answer: nothing. Bush has shown with the Padilla case that he can and will ignore the 6th Amendment.
You want a speedy and public trial? You say it’s your Constitutional right? Go ahead and enforce that right…from solitary confinement.
December 18th, 2006 at 5:12 pmHey dudes,
I was not feeling sorry for Donald Vance. I support his actions of being a whistleblower. I just felt the guy was a little naive in thinking he could go to Iraq and expect to have the same rights and privileges he has in the USA. I wouldn’t. He was a security contractor, well he was looking for the fast bucks. Thats the risk that is taken. You rub anyone the wrong way and your gone. Seems a person could pick up on the vastly different goings on over there, and know when to keep the clap trap shut. Blow the whistle when its safe to do so.
December 18th, 2006 at 5:20 pmThe average private security contractor type that goes to Iraq is doing it for the quick buck, and things aren’t working too well in the states for them. I don’t think they consider the entire picture. Can you say crispy critters?
December 18th, 2006 at 5:23 pmMuck the fercs.
December 18th, 2006 at 5:31 pmHe’s lucky they didn’t make him swallow the whistle and play dixie out his butt.
I too applaud his guts, but the glory side of this could have waited till he was out of harms way.
Duznt sound like too brite of a guy.
I will not ever feel sorry for a god damn mercenary. EVER.
You want me to feel sorry for some guy who was treated like crap in prison for whistle blow on mother fu*kers who shouldn’t be in Iraq in the first place.
Do you know what a mercenary is. Somebody who kills for money. Mercenaries are not like soldiers at all.
So, to make clear, I don’t feel bad for somebody who kills for money being treated bad.
Screw Blackwater and the rest of them.
If he was painting schools, then I might feel bad.
December 18th, 2006 at 5:45 pm[...] The next day: “Told no more phone calls til leave.” See also here. Comments » [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 5:55 pmWell they’re like them in the way you just said.
December 18th, 2006 at 6:00 pmSoldiers sign up for the military to protect or country from enemies both foreign and domestic. I know I was in the US Army.
Mercenaries will fight for whoever pays them the most money. They are not the same. To compare somebody in the military with a fu*king mercenary is an insult.
Mercenaries are no better than Lefty the hit man.
December 18th, 2006 at 6:06 pmThanks so much for speaking out about this outrageous case at a time when the country seems too distracted to care. Donald Vance, an American citizen, veteran and whistleblower, had to smuggle his notes out of U.S. detention in a Bible, for God’s sake! It really does remind me of the famous poem First They Came … When will we wake up?
December 18th, 2006 at 7:33 pmHow many sign up to do that pro-bono ?
How many new recruits sign without enlistment bonuses or other financial incentives ?
They sign up for employment pal. Just like you did.
No, its neither an insult nor a comparison. They are overwhelmingly the same thing. I don’t know what your understanding is but there’s not a lot of ex-drycleaners working as mercenaries in Iraq. They’re pretty much exclusively ex-military.
No doubt it’s an insult to compare amatuer boxers to professional boxers in the same way. They’re totally different… in that they they’re the same people who just switched and get paid more.
Your words.
December 19th, 2006 at 2:31 amI feel for the naive chicago kid who just wanted to “do the right thing” but gets nailed for his whistle-blowing. Maybe by now he has figured out that bush/Carlyle/KBR/Kissinger et al are GUN-RUNNING in Iraq and making tons out of arming both sides. Nothing new here, folks: that’s EXACTLY how bushco’s great-grand-daddy and grand-daddy made their family fortunes, by arming the Kaiser and then arming Hitler, then laundering Nazi money and trading with the enemy while Americans died. Psychopaths all, and nothing has changed. String ‘en up, that’s what crimes of TREASON get ya during wartime.
December 19th, 2006 at 6:18 am