Iraq war contractors ordered to end abuses

[Coexist]

I've had the flu - so this might be old news. Sorry if it is - I did a search and it didn't come up in GD. If it is not - enjoy the slime that is Halliburton:

From The Chicago Tribune (subscription required - quick, easy and free, though).

I got the link from Halliburton Watch

By Cam Simpson
Tribune Washington bureau
Published April 23, 2006


WASHINGTON -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq has ordered sweeping changes for privatized military support operations after confirming violations of human-trafficking laws and other abuses by contractors involving possibly thousands of foreign workers on American bases, according to records obtained by the Tribune.

Gen. George Casey ordered that contractors be required by May 1 to return passports that have been illegally confiscated from laborers on U.S. bases after determining that such practices violated U.S. laws against trafficking for forced or coerced labor. Human brokers and subcontractors from South Asia to the Middle East have worked together to import thousands of laborers into Iraq from impoverished countries.

<snip>
Although other firms also have contracts supporting the military in Iraq, the U.S. has outsourced vital support operations to Halliburton subsidiary KBR at an unprecedented scale, at a cost to the U.S. of more than $12 billion as of late last year.

KBR, in turn, has outsourced much of that work to more than 200 subcontractors, many of them based in Middle Eastern nations condemned by the U.S. for failing to stem human trafficking into their own borders or for perpetrating other human rights abuses against foreign workers.

[htuttle]

1. They ought to call it what it is: Slavery

And US taxpayers paid $$ for it.

[Astrad]

2. To which the private contractors replied:

"Oh really? Gee we're sorry about that. Of course we'll stop these unfortunate practices immediately. Thanks so much for making us aware of them."