Semi-OT Nepalese Workers in Iraq

SASSAS

SASSAS

Joined
Aug 16, 2005
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I saw this earlier in the week and forgot to mention it... I was a little surprised it hadn't shown up. It has a little on the economic and political problems in Nepal...

U.S. cash fuels human trade

By Cam Simpson and Aamer Madhani
Tribune staff reporters
Published October 9, 2005

American tax dollars and the wartime needs of the U.S. military are fueling an illicit pipeline of cheap foreign labor, mainly impoverished Asians who often are deceived, exploited and put in harm's way in Iraq with little protection.

The U.S. has long condemned the practices that characterize this human trade as it operates elsewhere in the Middle East. Yet this very system is now part of the privatization of the American war effort and is central to the operations of Halliburton subsidiary KBR, the U.S. military's biggest private contractor in Iraq.

To document this system, the Tribune retraced the journey of 12 Nepalese men kidnapped last year from an unprotected convoy en route to an American military base in Iraq.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...,1,6641346.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
 
I wish that I could say that I'm surprised that Halliburton and KBR would do this but I am not. Halliburton seems to have a special and protected relationship with the govt. These foreign nationals are little more than slaves. The big question that I don't understand is:

Why isn't Halliburton and its subcontractors hiring Iraquis to do these jobs? I'm certain that they would be very glad to pick up some work. I'll bet that they are capable of doing construction and other jobs as well as just the menial ones. Seems like we are making more enemies bu excluding people who already live in Iraq.

Ice
 
Green Ice,

You bring up what I feel has been our greatest mistake in post war Iraq. I honestly believe that if the US would have hired the army and a lot of the population to work on recovery projects that there would have been more goodwill and less folks with too much time on their hands. However that would have cost more in the short run. That is our problem with a lot of things I think. We are thinking only in the short term.
 
I'm not sure, as I didn't read the whole article, where the "unprotected" convoys are operating. I do know that they don't operate where I am. Every convoy into or out of my base has a minimum of 4 armored gun trucks escorting them. That includes KBR, and the TCN (Third Country Nationals) convoys. However, I have seen how KBR treats the TCN personnel. Not good, to say the least. I've also seen how KBR treats it's own people. The pay may be good, but I wouldn't be able to work for some of the KBR bosses any longer than maybe a month. Oh yeah, KBR employees provide their own body armor, and the vehicles only have bolt on "soft armor". IE Kevlar panels for doors and floors. And the only weapons KBR allows are knives, like an issue Kabar. No firearms.
 
Good report Bill. I always like to hear the real info from the "man in the street". :)
 
Bill Sanders said:
, I have seen how KBR treats the TCN personnel. Not good, to say the least. I've also seen how KBR treats it's own people. The pay may be good, but I wouldn't be able to work for some of the KBR bosses any longer than maybe a month.
Click to expand...

They must be like that everywhere. Several years back a friend who works construction (usually union) started working for Brown and Root. I knew about their scab nature and was good heartedly kidding him about working for them. He said they weren't union, but "paid enough to make it worth it"

I talked to him a couple of weeks later and asked him how it was working for them "Well, they are giving me the root!" he said and said they were AWFUL to work for.

Finally he couldn't stand it anymore and found another job. Being a considerate person he told the other employer, who wanted him right away that he felt it was only fair that he give Brown and Root 2 weeks notice. So the other employer found someone to fill in for that time. When he gave B&R his 2 week notice they said something to the effect that "if you don't want to work for us we don't want to see you" and let him go right then so he was 2 weeks without a job because they were pissed he was leaving.

I think he made it maybe a month or two with them tops. :thumbdn:
 
This is bad stuff. When you conduct a campaign of occupation, in which you don't want the population to be your enemies, you should be good to them. Our fearless leaders have repeatedly acted contrary to this. How are we supposed to win the hearts and minds when, after the necessary destruction we incurred to win the war, we don't then unequivocally make it right? That was key to our success in Germany and Japan. We were gracious victors. We rebuilt them better than they were, and we did it right away with the support and cooperation of their people. We made ourselves into the "Good Guys," and today they are strong, stable, and friendly. And in Iraq, the people were never our enemy, just a leader.

Anyhow, what have we become if we condone, and even financially support inhumane practices? Turning a blind eye to abuse, dangerous cost-cutting measures, and corruption. What kind of great gift have we given the Iraqis if we conduct ourselves in such a reprehensible manner? And I definitely do not put the blame on the military; I am convinced they have done their very best, given their orders. I am not opposed to the war as a means to liberate an oppressed people. But when our leaders have so grossly betrayed the ideals of freedom and liberty, upon which America is based, they will only bring us shame and hurt our cause.

Nam

PS: Sorry about the political rant. Feel free to ignore, or ask me to edit if it's out of line.
 
I posted about this Tribune article some time ago. The stated reason for not hiring Iraqis was that they were afraid they might be insurgent infiltrators. So they hire people who don't look Iraqi. According to this article, it's only a step away from slavery, as the workers owe extravagant amounts to the brokers who arrange their transport.
 
I'm only mildly surprised you guys were having this nice political discussion over here in the corner.

It's pretty disapointing stuff. There are many things in this world we cannot change overnight. Workers in Nepal and nearly everywhere else, at one time or another, have been exploited. It's not Haliburton- its the whole system. They wanted workers. A heads up as to what was likely to occur would have been smart. 'We want workers- don't send us any that have been 'screwed' just getting here." (for fear of bad publicity if nothing else) They weren't smart enough to do that- or, was there no other way to get workers? Sometimes the people who are being exploited have as the alternative an even worse scenerio- starvation and death. Does anyone remember any of the various boycotts of clothing because of the horrible shop conditions overseas in which they were made? I do. Some of those women were found later to be angry that the boycott's had hurt the business which in turn lost them their jobs! Would another company given the contracts by a Democratic President been handled differently?

Everything is linked; environmental protections are linked economically by the limits imposed. If a Country 'cheats' on the protections and enjoys an economic advantage, the system is unfair to the other partners.

These problems are huge.
Here I am talking when all I was going to do was stop by and say hello.

edit; I've heard the Chicago Tribune is an interesting paper. It does not always do popular political things.

munk
 
So the problem still remains. Why not hire Iraquis to do all these construction and other jobs. They live there and need the money for their familys. Great. They might be a terrorist. Everybody and their brother in Iraq is a potential terrorist. Most of these people just want to work and make a living. You bring in foreign workers to do this and pay them thousands to do something I can do if you just pay me a fair living wage (which isn't that much in Iraq) and I'm not going to feel too friendly toward you.

End of rant.

Ice
 
I agree with Green Ice. Doesn't make much sense not to hire local.
And we would have been building a better relationship between our two nations.



munk
 
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