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November 29, 2006
The Shadow Army
CBS and The San Francisco Chronicle both ran recent stories on contractors working in Iraq.
Privatizing support services supposedly brings down costs for the Pentagon. It also sweeps a myriad number of problems under the rug -- everything from who gets to carry guns and the liability for shooting people to the longterm health problems of the civilian workers.
Both CBS and the Chron hone in on the looming challenges of post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is common among soldiers so it seems likely it is among civilian contractors as well, right? Especially in an asymmetrical threat environment where danger lurks around every corner and there is no frontline to hide behind.
I tried selling a story about contractors to CBS last summer -- actually several. This is that organization's effort: Civilian Contractors Face Perils in Iraq. It has an uncanny resemblance to a story I ran several years ago, including the spotlight on Sam Walker. He was eating french fries in a dining facility when a body bomber walked in and killed dozens:
"Body parts were flying all over and pieces of flesh flying in my face," Walker says.When it was over, the former contractor was drenched in the blood of the victims around him and rescue workers took him for dead. "I was so close to the bomber," he adds. "There was copper wire from the bomb embedded in my jacket."
Walker took a full blast to the side of his head and shrapnel pitted his body. But when KBR medics treated him following the bombing, he says they merely rubbed Vaseline on his burns and gave him Motrin for pain.
"For two days I told them my side was hurting but they said I would be okay, and wouldn't give me medical leave," Walker says.
The Chron's, "Civilian Workers in Iraq Suffering Combat Tauma," charts a similar course. (Yes, I did suggest the subject to a Chron editor).
Of course we all owe a debt to Jana Crowder and her Web site www.americancontractorsiniraq.com. She is the source for so much of what reporters do about the personal lives of contractors these days.
Posted by davidphinney at 03:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Greetings from Bangkok
Lots of new things to report from my travels to Manila. I met with government officials and former workers with First Kuwaiti Trading and Contracting.
I am told that First Kuwaiti is on a Philippine agency "watch list" for numerous complaints from workers about alleged labor trafficking into Iraq and horrid working and living conditions there. The company, which is now building the US embassy in Baghdad, has been on that list since mid-2005.
Apparently, the US State Department was unaware of these allegations, dismissed them, or just didn't deem them substantial enough when it awarded the $592-million contract to First Kuwaiti. And why did First Kuwaiti get the contract when it was $60 million or more over the lowest bidder for the work? Some say First Kuwaiti was the only company that could deploy quickly enough. Others say First Kuwaiti had the inside track because it was awarded sole-source contract to first clean up the embassy site.
Posted by davidphinney at 03:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 13, 2006
Labor Trafficking
Quoted by BBC.
"Pakistanis becoming fodder for Iraq war machine"
I don't have a clue to how this was picked up from a story I wrote more than a year ago, but the pickup is on the jump.
Pakistani migrants said "fodder" for US in Iraq BBC Monitoring South Asia - PoliticalSupplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring November 13, 2006 Monday
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation
All Rights Reserved
BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
November 13, 2006 Monday
LENGTH: 747 words
HEADLINE: Pakistani migrants said "fodder" for US in Iraq
BODY:
Excerpt from report by Pakistani newspaper The News website on 13 November, by Shahid Husain, headlined "Pakistanis becoming fodder for Iraq war machine"
Karachi: A group of 600 Pakistanis deported from Oman arrived aboard a ship here on Thursday [9 November], with their dreams of a better life shattered. Packed like sardines aboard the vessel, they were the victims of a massive network that lures young men with promises of easy money in foreign lands. Their story is no different from that of thousands of others.
Human trafficking from Pakistan to other countries, especially in the Middle East, is rampant through legal as well as illegal channels, a well placed official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told The News. The confirmation comes in the wake of reports published abroad that a large number of migrant workers from impoverished South Asian countries such as the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal are becoming fodder for the US war machine in Iraq.
"About 9,000 to 10,000 immigrants from Pakistan are deported from Muscat alone every year as a result of human trafficking," says Muhammad Malik, additional director, FIA Passport Circle. "About 60-70 per cent of the deportees hail from the Punjab, 15 per cent from the North West Frontier Province, 10 per cent from Sindh and 5 per cent from Baluchistan," he adds.
The process of human trafficking begins by either travelling, on legal documents, to Dubai, where a well-organized ring of unscrupulous agents provides forged documents for the onward journey to Europe, the United States and the Middle Eastern countries, or, without any documents, through Mand Biloo in Baluchistan along the border with Iran.
"The person vying to go abroad bears an expense ranging from 25,000 to 2.5m rupees [approx 400-40,000 US dollars] on an average, depending whether the destination is Muscat or the United States," Malik said.
The intending immigrants are booked for Muscat (Sultanate of Oman) and Dubai (the UAE) in different parts of the Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP, FATA/PATA [tribal areas] as well as from Karachi, and their boarding is usually arranged in small hotels in the slum areas of Karachi, namely Lyari and Lea Market. From there, they are transported to Mand Biloo through coaches and buses in the early hours of the day up until noon. They reach Mand Billo, a small Baluchistan town bordering Iran, in about 24 hours. The fare per person is 600 rupees.
On arrival at Mand Biloo, the local agents hand over the immigrants to Iranian human traffickers who then transport these persons through the night using pick-ups. After forming groups of 150 to 300 immigrants, the traffickers dispatch them to the coastal areas of the Sultanate of Oman through antiquated launches. Not surprisingly, many immigrants from Pakistan are apprehended by Omani marines and deported.
According to the data compiled by the FIA, the number of Pakistani deportees from Muscat in 2003 was 6,018. The number was 10,294 in 2004, 10,004 in 2005 and 6,438 between January-October 2006. [passage omitted]
"Dubai is a transit point where the forged documents used by immigrants for onward journey are processed," said Malik. Though Malik pleaded ignorance in regards to the trafficking of cheap labour from Pakistan to Iraq for use in the so-called reconstruction efforts being carried out over there by American multinationals, a story aired by CorpWatch, an American organization that monitors the activities of multinational companies across the world, has made startling disclosures.
"Largely hailing from impoverished South Asian countries such as the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, these labourers earn monthly salaries between 200 and 1,000 dollars. They work as truck drivers, construction workers, carpenters, warehousemen, laundry workers, cooks, accountants, beauticians and similar blue-collar jobs for the US military," disclosed David Phinney, an American journalist, in a piece for CorpWatch. [passage omitted]
Called "third country nationals" (TCNs) in contractor's parlance, this "invisible" and "indispensable" army of low-paid workers forms an "untraceable trail of contract labour," according to Phinney. TCNs are employed through complex layers of companies working in Iraq. At the top of the pyramid-shaped system is the US government, which has assigned over 24bn dollars in contracts over the last two years. [passage omitted]
Source: The News website, Islamabad, in English 13 Nov 06
LOAD-DATE: November 13, 2006
Posted by davidphinney at 02:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 09, 2006
Sources Can Be Such A Tease
From: Jeff ....
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 1:23 PM
To: DAVID PHINNEY
Subject: RE: KBR/Halliburton
$50,000.00 is my fee for providing information regarding this subject. I do not promise accuracy nor will I give exclusive rights to the story. When you are ready to make payment in guaranteed funds, payable in advance, then I shall arrange to make myself available to answer your questions. Thank you for your inquiry and good luck with your story.
Posted by davidphinney at 01:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack