Army // Current TV

Defense Contractor with Shady Past Outsources Hundreds of American Rescuer Jobs

Defense contractor ITT Exelis has decided to move forward with the controversial outsourcing of American EMT and Fire Fighter jobs on U.S. military bases in Kuwait. The rescuers, many of whom are American military veterans and some of whom served as rescuers at Ground Zero on 9/11 and in the gulf south states during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, will be replaced with what many believe are under-trained and inexperienced EMTs and Fire Fighters from the Philippines.

ITT Exelis won the $1.4 billion Kuwait Base Operations and Security Support Services contract in late 2010 to "provide the full spectrum of logistics, security, transportation, life support and facilities services at Camp Arifjan, Camp Buehring, Camp Virginia and a number of other critical military installations in the Kuwait area of responsibility," according to an October 6, 2010 press release by the company.

Arguably one of the larger players in the defense contracting world, ITT is no stranger to controversy. In 2007, the multinational corporation was fined $100 million for criminal violations of the Arms Export Control Act for sending classified material to Britain, Singapore and China. The company also has connections to the 1964 coup in Brazil, the 1973 Pinochet coup in Chile and the Nazi Party in World War II, where the company owned 25% of the German aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf and is believed to have made payments to SS leader Heinrich Himmler, through a subsidiary.

As the new Filippno EMTs and Fire Fighters begin to replace the American emergency workers, a growning concern for quality of medical care and safety has been voiced. Many of the Filippino EMTs and Fire Fighters have never driven emergency vehicles before arriving in Kuwait.

The roadways of Kuwait rank high among the deadliest in the world according to the World Health Organization and other agencies. Because the EMTs and Fire Fighters working under the KBOSSS contract routinely respond to emergency calls and transport patients on Kuwait's roadways, many on the ground in Kuwait fear that the inexperience of the Filipino workers will ultimately lead to the death of American military service members.

Emails to ITT Exelis for comment were not returned.Defense contractor ITT Exelis has decided to move forward with the controversial... more

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Fox contributor: Female soldiers should 'expect' to be Raped

By Eric W. Dolan Monday, February 13, 2012 19:18 EST
Fox News contributor Liz Trotta on Monday suggested women serving alongside male service members should expect to be raped and complained about the money spent on women who are “now being raped too much.”
Trotta appeared on Fox to discuss new Department of Defense rules allowing women to serve in more than 14,000 jobs that had been off-limits to female soldiers. They still cannot join infantry, armor or special forces units, however. “But we have women once more, the feminist, going, wanting to be warriors and victims at the same time,” she said.
“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta commented on a new Pentagon report on sexual abuse in the military,” Trotta added. “I think they have actually discovered there is a difference between men and women. And the sexual abuse report says that there has been, since 2006, a 64% increase in violent sexual assaults. Now, what did they expect? These people are in close contact, the whole airing of this issue has never been done by Congress, it’s strictly been a question of pressure from the feminist.”
She then noted that the budget of the Defense Department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office increased from $5 million in 2005 to more than $23 million in 2010.
“So, you have this whole bureaucracy upon bureaucracy being built up with all kinds of levels of people to support women in the military who are now being raped too much,” Trotta remarked.
“Well, many would say that they need to be protected, and there are these sexual programs, abuse programs, are necessary,” co-anchor Eric Shawn interjected, but to no avail.
“That’s funny, I thought the mission of the Army, and the Navy, and four services was to defend and protect us, not the people who were fighting the war,” Trotta responded.
Watch video, clipped by Media Matters, below: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/13/fox-contributor-on-women-raped-in-the-military-what-did-they-expect/
"Did she say women are being 'Raped Too Much'???" WTF is going on Here!!!!! =( By Eric W. Dolan Monday, February 13, 2012 19:18 EST... more

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