Reprehensible, Inc.

September 24, 2003 11:31 AM

DynCorp Disgrace"Middle-aged men having sex with 12- to 15-year-olds was too much for Ben Johnston, a hulking 6-foot-5-inch Texan, and more than a year ago he blew the whistle on his employer, DynCorp, a U.S. contracting company doing business in Bosnia..."
posted by psmealey (27 comments total)

Well, I guess this sort of insanity puts Enron/MCI/Adelphia into a different perspective...
posted by aramaic at 11:45 AM on September 24, 2003

Posted Jan. 14, 2002

Wasn't an US servicemen arrested and tried for rape/murder in Bosnia during this same period too?
posted by thomcatspike at 11:45 AM on September 24, 2003

Dyncorp sucks, apparently. That site has a different story on the same issue, but focusing on another whistle-blower (briefly mentioned in the FPP link).
posted by whatnotever at 11:57 AM on September 24, 2003

Apparently, this kind of corporate behavior leads to more cushy government contracts. (also a rather dated story: April 13, 2003)

Thanks for pointing this out, psmealey. I hadn't heard about this.
posted by fletchmuy at 11:58 AM on September 24, 2003

This is a very timely post since Dear Leader spoke at length on the sex slave trade yesterday at the UN.
Shall we remove DynCorp from government contract considerations?
Not in the Bushwa reality we won't!
Shall we prosecute the offenders?
Naaa! They're Americans and that would be unpatriotic!

Let's harass the whistle blower instead and award the company more juicy military contracts. No bid contracts if possible. Now that's being a patriotic American!
posted by nofundy at 12:00 PM on September 24, 2003

Sorry about the repost. For whatever reason, it didn't show up when I did a search for it.

Interesting to read a couple of the love letters assailing Ben Johnston as a "worm" in the forum below the article. Whether you think that Johnston or the reporter had axes to grind or not, there was videotaped evidence that clearly some DynCorp employees were engaged in such reprehensible behavior, and the company did nothing about it.
posted by psmealey at 12:07 PM on September 24, 2003

But Johnston worries about what this company's culture does to the reputation of the United States.
posted by thomcatspike at 12:08 PM on September 24, 2003

Salon reported on this last year: Outside the law. I believe this was their latest: Sex-slave whistle-blowers vindicated.
posted by homunculus at 12:14 PM on September 24, 2003

Before the usual suspects come in and say it, let me say it for them. Ahem:

"Oh, look, a bunch of lefty MeFi-ers attacking a corporation! You don't like people to have jobs, do you? Dyncorp helps to protect America, and you hate that. Don't you know in some of these other countries they traditionally get married and have sex at a younger age? How culturally insensitive of you, as well as patronizing! This is the free market in action, and you hate freedom, don't you?"

Did that cover it, or did I miss something?
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:22 PM on September 24, 2003

If we're not allowed to have sex with underage slaves, then the terrorists have already won.
posted by aramaic at 12:29 PM on September 24, 2003

Speak for yourself, George. I am typically pro-corporation, but I think that anyone from DynCorp who was involved with the sexual slavery of children should prosecuted to the FULLEST extent of the law, and that if DynCorp executives were aware of these crimes and did nothing or covered it up, they should also be prosecuted. Vigorously. And have their contracts ended immediately.

Do not assume that those who may differ from you politically have neither moral sense nor an unwillingess to see justice done. We have children too.
posted by UncleFes at 12:32 PM on September 24, 2003

George: I don't think any sane human right-wing or left would defend this kinda behavior. But you wanna start the usual pointless brawl, yknock yourself out, but I think I speak for a lot of mefi when I say it's getting boring.
posted by jonmc at 12:34 PM on September 24, 2003

UncleFes, I would never classify you among those I was parodying. You argue with sincerity and with intellectual honesty. The only people I was sending up is those who argue in the manner, and with the words, I used; and who seem quite convinced that no criticism of a corporate body or its actions are ever warranted and that to do so in any instance, no matter how egregious the conduct, is invariably communistic and anti-corporate. I apologize for hijacking this thread to make that point, but my choice of it was precisely because of the subject's moral indefensibility.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:40 PM on September 24, 2003

Obviously, I've been mis-hearing the phrase "cum-passionate conservatism".

*goes back to chanting "greed is good"*
posted by WolfDaddy at 12:45 PM on September 24, 2003

What jonmc said. George, why not wait for someone to actually say those words before diluting the thread with all the braying & sarcasm? The actions of DynCorp are pretty indefensible, no matter your political persuasion, opinion on corporations, the military, or anything else.
posted by dhoyt at 12:47 PM on September 24, 2003

...George, why not wait for someone to actually say those words before diluting the thread with all the braying & sarcasm? The actions of DynCorp are pretty indefensible, no matter your political persuasion, opinion on corporations, the military, or anything else.

Yea, and nofundy too.... since he managed to get his little anti-Bush this-n-that in there as well (the pathetic worm).
posted by Witty at 12:58 PM on September 24, 2003

For the record, I appreciate dhoyt's back-up, but I'd like to distance myself from witty's little personal attack on nofundy.
posted by jonmc at 1:05 PM on September 24, 2003

Thanks for your generous contribution to the thread half witty, you pathetic worm.

Is there anything I said that isn't true you pathetic turd?
Did you read the links in this thread?
Do you care about the abuses perpetrated?
Oh, that's right, it is sufficient for you to abuse anyone who speaks up against such behavior, isn't it?

Half Witty - the master messenger attacker. Leave me alone you ass.
posted by nofundy at 1:08 PM on September 24, 2003

DynCorp personnel contracted to the United Nations police service in Bosnia were implicated in buying and selling prostitutes, including a girl as young as 12. Several DynCorp employees were also accused of videotaping the rape of one of the women.

No bid contracts if possible. Now that's being a patriotic American!

Little confused here. Whom hired DynCorp; the USA or United Nations...if you want to point a finger?.

Also...Despite DynCorp's demands for US citizens only, it is offering the private contracts through its British office in Aldershot.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:15 PM on September 24, 2003

Like to clarify, nofundy did no quote you stir the battle, nofundy vs witty.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:17 PM on September 24, 2003

quote you to stir
posted by thomcatspike at 1:30 PM on September 24, 2003

What?
posted by dhoyt at 1:51 PM on September 24, 2003

George: point taken, and thanks. For what it's worth, I agree with you - critical thinking on the left and the right is often in short supply, especially when of necessity it must be levelled at one's own position, while my-team-right-or-wrong cheerleading and asspatting seems to exist just as often in quantities that would choke a cornucopia.

I aspire to be as willing to abandon an indefensible position or challenge my own opinions when confronted with superior reason and sense as I am to challenge the opinions and positions of others with whom I disagree. I am, I admit, not all the way there yet. Differ though I may with you and many others here, it is invaluable to me (if occasionally excruciating) that there is a group of smart, thoughtful people who are (extremely) willing to challenge my prejudices and seek after the roots of my opinions with ethical dart and logical dagger. It is my hope as well that I may serve similarly for my philosophical opposites.
posted by UncleFes at 1:52 PM on September 24, 2003

Half Witty - the master messenger attacker.

Thank you, thank you. {bows}

I may have misread your consistently sarcastic and whiny drivel/rhetoric, but the word Bush doesn't even appear on that entire page (the one linked in the FPP). Nor does it appear (in any related sense) in any of the links offered in the comments previous to yours. But we can always count on you to make sure the thread does... regardless of the intended topic.

Make fun of my member name if you must... it sure is clever. But I still think your schtick is old and pathetic.
posted by Witty at 1:59 PM on September 24, 2003

thomcatspike: Whom hired DynCorp; the USA or United Nations...

The US hired Dyncorp. Many different countries agreed to provide police officers to the UN police force in Bosnia. The US hired Dyncorp to recruit and employ the US contingent of officers.

My best friend was one of those officers. He worked in Bosnia for a year or so, and I visited him there a couple of times. I witnessed a high incidence of on-the-job drunkenness (not just from the Americans working for Dyncorp, but also from non Americans who were working for the UN, but not through DynCorp). I also heard many stories about prostitution, and even heard rumours about it being possible to buy a sex slave there (though never from someone who claimed to have done it).

I probably spent about 3 weeks, en toto, around these guys, and my look at the operation did absolutely nothing positive for my opinion of the United Nations. The sheer incompetance was amazing -- there was a real culture of laziness and a shoddy work ethic that reached pretty high into the ranks. My friend tried to fight it, but finally ended his contract early, disgusted with the whole operation.

He was making ~$80K per year (untaxed) working for DynCorp - good money for a Texas Deputy Constable, but not enough to buy his morals.
posted by syzygy at 2:14 PM on September 24, 2003

The sad thing is that this behavior isn't restricted to DynCorp -- I've personally witnessed UNESCO employees molesting underage Laotian prostitutes, watched NGO employees spend their budgets on shiny new SUVs and liquor rather than water-purification supplies for the people they're supposed to be helping, and tried not to murder the expat employee of a major French bank while he screamed at a cabbie for bringing him a girl that was too old (ie., past puberty).

...and the less I say about the operations of PwC in Saigon, the happier we'll all be.
posted by aramaic at 2:44 PM on September 24, 2003

...tried not to murder the expat employee...

You did the right thing. The scum needed murdering.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:06 AM on September 25, 2003