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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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December 30th,
2008 - US Pull-Back from Iraq Will Hit Private Contractors |
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US Pull-Back from Iraq Will Hit
Private Contractors By Missy Ryan Reuters December 30, 2008 Baghdad - In Iraq, tens of
thousands of private contractors from poor countries like Nepal, Pakistan or
Peru keep the U.S. military on its feet, driving trucks, scrubbing floors,
and ladling out food at sprawling U.S. bases. But the role of Iraq's
multi-billion-dollar contracting business will change next year as Washington
draws down troop levels and Iraq assumes control for maintaining a fragile
calm. Change may mean fewer jobs
for workers from the developing world who have been willing to risk their
lives to join the 200,000 private contractors who outnumber U.S. troops in
Iraq. The risks are real. More
than 400 foreign contractors have been killed in Iraq since 2003, according
to an independent compilation. They include U.S. citizens, Fijiian, Pakistani
and Nepalese. For some in countries where
unemployment is high and wages are low, it's a deal worth making. A former soldier from Peru,
who did not wish to be named, came to Iraq in 2005 to work for a private
security firm. In his new work in Baghdad he could make 60 percent more than
he did as a bodyguard for wealthy businessmen back home. He has paid off debts, his
children are studying in private school, and he is hoping to stay in Iraq as
long as possible. He shrugs off the risks in
Iraq. His own country, Peru, has its own bloody past. "It's nothing new
for us," he said. Such non-Iraqi, non-American
contractors can earn five to 10 times in Iraq what they would at home, said
Doug Brooks, head of the International Peace Operations Association. "There is huge demand
for these jobs," he said. The contracting business has
exploded in almost six years of war in Iraq, especially as a leaner U.S.
military strives to ensure soldiers are doing only what they do best -
fighting. Through last year, the
United States awarded $85 billion in private contracts directly supporting
the Iraq war, a fifth of total Iraq spending, the Congressional Budget Office
has said. The main contract for food,
fuel, and other basics, now awarded to giant, politically connected U.S.
contractor KBR Inc. and other firms, alone was worth $22 billion. Mixed Record At times the Iraq
contracting business has earned a bad name, accused of fraud, waste, shoddy
work, and even human trafficking. The Pentagon is blamed for improper
oversight. Five guards for U.S.
security firm Blackwater have been charged over the 2007 killing of 14
unarmed Iraqis in Baghdad, which outraged Iraqis. From Jan. 1, contractors in
Iraq will be subject to Iraqi law, removing them from what critics called a
legal black hole. The U.S. military is also
probing whether Bangladeshi and other workers were illegally trafficked to
Iraq with promises of KBR jobs, and says it could punish firms that mistreat
workers. As the United States looks
toward an end-2011 deadline for pulling its 143,000 troops out of Iraq, the
number of contractor jobs is expected to dwindle along with overall U.S.
needs. That is unwelcome news for
Alhaji Musa Sendor, a Sierra Leonean trying to land a job in Iraq. He has
heard he can earn thousands of dollars a month, a fortune by local standards. He worked in Kuwait, but has
been unemployed for months, and is growing desperate. "People walk up
and down the streets here, but there is no job for them," he said by
phone from Freetown. Iraq's private security
industry is still hoping for work protecting foreign businessmen as reconstruction
picks up. "Those people are going
to have to be guarded," said Lawrence Peter, who heads an Iraq private
security association. Additional reporting by Christo Johnson in Freetown. © Thomson Reuters 2008. All
rights reserved. External link: http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLU667875 |