Judge Dismisses Halliburton Suit

Washington Post Griff Witte September 23, 2006 at 02:32 PM
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A federal judge in Texas yesterday threw out a lawsuit against Halliburton Co. that had been brought by survivors and the families of those killed when a fuel convoy was assaulted by insurgents outside Baghdad in April 2004.

The suit had claimed Halliburton bore responsibility because the company knew the proposed route was the scene of a pitched battle but decided to send the drivers anyway. U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller ruled that the Army had played a key role in sending the convoy and that it was not his place to second-guess that decision.

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Appealing for Justice in KBR/Halliburton Case

READ MORE: Iraq, Halliburton, Entertainment The Federal District Court in Houston, Judge Gray Miller presiding dismissed the Good Friday Massacre case today saying that KBR/Halliburton's actions are not reviewable by the Courts as a "political question." This decision is devastating to not only my clients but for all civilian employees.

The case concerns an incident, detailed in Robert Greenwald's new documentary Iraq for Sale, in which a convoy was sent into a known battle zone by KBR/Halliburton. Last Monday my client Ed Sanchez, one of the surviving truck drivers in the convoy, and I testified about the case before the Democratic Policy Committee.

I remember Senator Dorgan's well- intentioned comment that "...we are not here to try a case." As it stands now, the Courts will not review Halliburton/ KBR's conduct, the Congress can't, and nobody (I mean no government authority) will see the evidence or evaluate how seven CIVILIANS were killed. The men who were killed that day are not even a 'statistic' because they are not part of the 'official death count.' As it stands now this ruling means the truth about how and why civilians were sent into a massive kill zone that Halliburton/ KBR knew was present will never come out.

Seriously, where do United States citizens turn to be heard? I thought we were fighting this war, and all wars, to preserve the rights of citizens, including the right to trial by jury within our judicial system. This, in my view, is a sad day not only for the families and men I represent but for our future. We strongly disagree with the decision and intend to appeal.

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