US army on the job
Via Late Night Live, New Yorker reporter at large Sarah Stillman spent a year investigating the invisible army of more than 70,000 “third-country nationals” (TCNs) who work for the American military in war zones, many in conditions “resembling indentured servitude”.
The process of outsourcing many of the functions to support the military operations begins with the awarding of logistics contracts worth billions to three main US firms – K.B.R. (the former Halliburton subsidiary), DynCorp International, and Fluor.
These “prime venders” then shop out the bulk of their contracts to hundreds of global subcontractors, many based in Middle Eastern countries that are on the U.S. State Department’s human-trafficking noncompliance list. Finally, these firms call upon thousands of Third World “manpower agencies”—small recruiting operations like Meridian Services.
Meridian Services was the firm in Fiji that recruited the three beauticians whose story Stillman follows. They were lied to at the outset:
How would she like to make five times her current salary at a luxury hotel in Dubai, a place known as the City of Gold? How would she like to have wealthy Arab customers, women who paid ridiculous fees for trendy cut-and-color jobs?
It was only when they were being given injections in Dubai that the nurse told them they needed the jabs because they were heading for Iraq.
All in all they did better than many. They paid a recruitment fee in Fiji of $500. They were promised $1500 to $3800 a month on the job. When it came to the point this was reduced to $700 and then to $350. They actually went on strike and negotiated $800. They had acceptable accommodation and ate with the troops. They didn’t get killed or injured and finally got an air ticket home. Some workers have simply been thanked, dismissed and abandoned.
By comparison:
A twenty-five-year-old Taco Bell employee on a major U.S. base in Iraq told me that he had paid a recruiting agency in Nepal four thousand dollars. “You’ll make the money back so quick in Iraq!” he was assured. When he arrived in Baghdad, in May, 2009, he was housed in a shipping container behind the U.S. Embassy, in the Green Zone, where he slept on soiled mattresses with twenty-five other migrants from Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. Many learned that they were to earn as little as two hundred and seventy-five dollars a month as cooks and servers for U.S. soldiers—a fraction of what they’d been promised, and a tiny sliver of what U.S. taxpayers are billed for their labor.
Stillman says that the recruitment fee is normally $2000 to $4000, and seldom less than $1000. The money is often borrowed at loan-shark rates, which then takes forever to pay back.
In one case 1400 workers rioted when some were not fed after working all day.
Working conditions are normally 12 hours per day 7 days per week.
One of the Fijian women suffered non-consensual sex. When Stillman rang the US Army’s emergency sexual-assault hot line over several days the number simply rang out.
While some are happy to work for more than they could earn at home, the whole system was exploitative, in many cases illegal or beyond the guidelines. There have been several inquiries and investigations, but a system started under Clinton, continues under Obama. Words are spoken and instructions issued, but nothing changes, it seems.
Since 2001, over 2000 workers have been killed and some 51,000 injured.
The man who recruited the Fijian women was exposed in the press and investigated by the local authorities. He continues to recruit with a large sign “NO Recruitment Until Further Notice” at the entrance, placed there by police.
In 2009 General McChrystal tried a policy of “Afghanisation” but it became a logistic and security nightmare, with US funds funnelling to the Taliban.
Stillman mentions but doesn’t follow up the fact the the US military are simply tapping into a labour supply system that brings workers from poor countries into the region.
Does anyone know how other national troops are supported in Afghanistan?
Stomach turning. There are no depths to which the US military/industrial complex will not sink. These people make Milo Minderbinder look like a philanthropist.
Very apt comment, akn. I fell to wondering just what ‘freedoms’ they think they are protecting and what brand of rapacious capitalism.
…and they wonder why the war goes on without end in sight!
This is a worldwide problem, not just related to the US military. Poor countries like the Philippines and Indonesia supply domestic helpers and labourers for the Middle East, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Europe. These workers have no rights and are in fact slaves. Labor recruitment agencies in the source countries as well as government officials on the take at every level are where to direct the anger. It’s a huge and sickening scandal that nothing is done about this.
You know what makes me sick?
Let me guess, rape is too loaded a term? Remind me again why us white people shouldn’t feel guilty?
This reminds me of a doco screened a few months back that talked about whole civilisations being wiped out by the yanks in Laos with bombing raids something like every nine minutes for many many years. There does seem to be no limits to the depths the US military will sink. Late night live recently replayed Morris Bermann talking about US madness. Interestingly, he and other “lefties” seem to have started moving to Mexico to escape. (Like Vietnam draftees escaping to Canada, I suppose)
How much cognitive dissonance is needed for people to know this stuff and pretend to believe we live in a vaguely ethical society? (We being joined at the belly with the US, that is.)
To anticipate some counter arguments, it is possible to be horrified by this stuff and also not like Stalin’s Russia or communist China, by the way.
Start a war in Fiji. Ship cheap labour from Afghanistan as Step’n'fetchits for that war effort.
Problem solved.
Rapacious capitalism was shown recently with NW Shelf workers from Third World countries recruited through an ‘arms length’ chain of subbies for very low wages. They were exposed through Fair Work Australia. I hope their ultimate employer is shamed as well as heavily fined.
I’m fairly torn by this kind of story. On the one hand, it’s a terrible example of how morally corrupt our culture has become. It is an example of a civilization in decline — the US economy and it’s culture is crumbling, not from outside, but from the inside. They have 10%+ unemployment but have to use OS labor at an exploitative rate. I want to highlight use — this is the sought of thing people should be taking note of.
At the same time, I wonder if Australian’s really understand the consequences of a declining US culture. They are by a large margin, the culture with the same fundamental principles, some bad, some very good and very important to our way of life. Europe, as attractive as it is in some ways does not share the same culture of individual freedom that we take for granted in Oz. If the US doesn’t manage to right itself we stand to lose a great deal in the coming century, I believe.
Australia also has to regain control of it’s political and financial/ economic destiny.
Joe, US foundational values are a bit too individualistic for me.
tssk @ 5, there was a NPR interview with Stillman where the interviewer called what happened repeated sexual assault. Stillman says that the US Army claims they investigated the matter and that the claims were unsubstantiated. No-one asked the women about what happened, apparently.
Brian, yeah, I get that point of view, but from where I’m sitting in Europe I’m not totally convinced that the US’s problems stem from their “hyper-individualism” (which is based on their experience of settlement, btw.) but on a culture which has become too enamoured with superficiality.
It’s not clear that a polity of citizens is the reason for this development. It’s certainly a very interesting development. The US system of government is actually really good, but it seems to be broken at the moment. I suspect that the reasons for this are not primarily to be found in the countries culture of “individualism.”
If I look around at the countries which are “successful” at the moment, and I mean specifically economically, the implications of this success for politics is concerning. China, Singapore, even Germany, too some extent are countries, which either are, or have a tradition of, a more totalitarian style of governance. Equally, the continuing importance of some Middle Eastern countries for our energy supply, etc.
Also, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that a market is not a sufficient metaphor for a society. It has some attractive aspects, but it is not self-ordering, as many believed. And not always efficient and that, btw is enough to need to think about why we need good political institutions to control executive powers!
If Australians prove themselves incapable of autonomously sustaining it’s own cultural values, their nation does not merit existence.
The US generated some superb foundational values. Unfortunately, nowadays, the US serves as an example for some of the worst types of Australian.
” , . . superb foundational values” can you remind me Katz?
This kind of violent capitalism has no conscience, no central authority, it is propelled by an unseen, unacknowledged consensus by all who are involved, that supports a central agreement of exteme self-interest. Nobody thinks they can do anything about it and we all must go down the gurgler. But actually politicians can do something about it, but they are too weak in the face of the people with the gold etc. . .
Time to go public – I no longer support Australia’s commitment to Afghanistan. Time to bring the Troops home.
Why?
The first principle of war is Selection and Maintenance of the Aim. It is clear to me that even after 10 years NATO and the US do not have a clear aim and are not fully committed to achieving whatever it is. Australia should no longer risk or Troops lives and spend our money on a losing cause.
In military matters you should never fight fair or give a sucker and even break – always take a gun to a knife fight. Obama’s decision to pull down troops as planned shows a lack of commitment. If they really wanted to win he would have gone all Sun Tzu on the Taliban’s arse and instead announced the deployment of two Airborne Divisions to boost the fight.