When I was reading this, I was like, how in the hell did he wind up being forced to work in Iraq? I know that there are criminal organizations that abduct people, but surely once he was found by our people, he would have been sent home. And then I read that KBR was responsible, and it suddenly made sense. Why recruit Americans, who you'll have to pay really well, and pay hazard pay for going some place so dangerous, when you can just abduct people from third world countries and force them to work? This shit just keeps getting deeper. And our congressmen are tangentially responsible for everything that these contractors have done, by failing to have oversight of the situation.
Buddhi Gurung, who calls himself a poor Nepali man, described how he was unable to get a job to support his wife and two sons during fighting by Maoist rebels and the army in 2004. When an agent promised him a job in America for $500 a month, he said he borrowed about $2,800 to pay him — but instead of going to the United States, he was taken to Jordan via New Delhi.
After a month in Jordan, he said he was put in a van with 11 others and driven to Baghdad. Twelve Nepali friends in the van that left just before his were abducted, paraded on television and eventually beheaded. Gurung said he wound up at the U.S. Al Asad Air Base where he was forced to work and paid less than the promised $500 a month.
"We would hear bomb blasts nearby and we knew our life was at risk," Gurung said. "I always wanted to go back to Nepal but neither my passport was with me, nor did I have any money or knew any other way to go back. ... Finally, after 15 months, I was permitted to go back to Nepal. ... This is how my life was saved."
Gurung and the families of the 12 Nepali men have filed a U.S. federal lawsuit accusing Houston-based defense contractor KBR Inc. and a Jordanian subcontractor, Daoud & Partners, of human trafficking.
I did a search but, there doesn't seem to be much about this case in the news. Surprise, surprise.
KBR is turning out to be a worst nightmare.... employee rapes, missing money in large sums, and now abduction for cheap labor?
ReplyDeleteWhat will it take to prosecute & fire them once & for all?
When you say fire them, you mean Fire them into space right?
ReplyDeleteAs long as the RW media keeps up the "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" act we will never, as a nation, decide that enough of this shit is quite enough of this shit.
ReplyDeleteOn a personal note, YAY, I can comment on your blog (Blogger seems not to let me on blogs with this comment format). So, YAY!
Hope you are well, AWQM.
How unsurprising and how unfortunate and how typical of the quagmire that is American involvement in Iraq!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm not commenting as much as I'd like here; I'm just overwhelmed with my various blogs at the moment.
I appreciate so much, however, your insightful and concise comments on Contextual Criticism!