Freedom Isn't Free...And Neither Are Contractors
Mon May 12, 2008 at 11:06:07 AM PDT
(Cross-posted from progressivefuture.org): This is the first installment of a five-part blog series sharing the experiences of Rachel, an Iraq War veteran who was a firsthand witness to many cases of contractor abuse against the troops.
It seems that, each day, I wake up and read a new way in which private contractors are taking advantage of our troops in Iraq. New reports surface that illuminate the greed and corruption of these private companies, hired through multi-billion dollar contracts to support the health and security of American soldiers. These services are too important to be performed without oversight and accountability for the devastating results that occur. From electrocutions due to faulty wiring and the provision of contaminated water, to rape, arbitrary shootings of Iraqi civilians, and tax evasion, the stories pile up with such a magnitude of horror, it is truly conscience-stirring for even the most jaded among us.
And yet, so many of these stories remained buried in the mainstream press. It saddens me that so many of these soldiers have received disgusting and hazardous treatment while defending our country, and are unable to make their voices heard. So when Rachel, a formerly deployed soldier who was stationed at Camp Ramadi, offered to tell me about her experiences with the contractors in Iraq, I wanted to share her testimony with all supporters and members of, Progressive Future, in an exclusive five-part blog series. Each day this week, I will post a new entry sharing another aspect of Rachel's story.
I met Rachel in a discussion forum about KBR's provision of contaminated water to the troops, and she was incredibly articulate and forthcoming regarding her experiences in Iraq. One of the first issues into which Rachel shared some revealing insight was the disparities in both employment packages and living conditions between the troops and the private contractors:
What led to your decision to serve in Iraq?
I convinced my parents to allow me to join the Army when I was 17 years old in 2002. There was no specific reason for joining, although a significant part of it was curiosity. Ultimately, this decision to join led to my involuntary transfer into a reserve unit preparing to deploy to Iraq in 2004.
I was deployed in December 2004. The first few months we were stationed near Tikrit. The rest of my time, I was stationed at Camp Ar Ramadi until we returned home in December 2005.
What sorts of private contractors did you encounter/work with in Iraq and what services did they provide?
I encountered private contractors nearly everywhere that I went in both Kuwait and Iraq. Services provided to us in included: laundry, food and water; dumpsters and porta-johns were usually emptied daily, fitness and recreation centers with free internet service [were provided, as were] phones to use with phone cards. Civilians, usually from other countries, staffed the facilities and were typically managed by Americans.
The only difficulty I had interacting with the KBR civilians particularly was when the American [employees] told us how much they were paid. They always "felt bad" saying their salary was as high as it was, but they usually did, creating a strong resentment that our pay was so low in comparison. I am a heavy construction equipment operator and often came across civilians making 6-digit salaries for doing the same work as my platoon. The mayor cell [a unit in charge of facilities and infrastructure] on FOB Cobra, a smaller base, told us that they had been waiting a while for KBR to make their way there with equipment. They estimated that the work that took us less than a day to complete in our time off would have taken civilians an estimated six weeks. We were also floored by the outrageous estimate and compared it to the cost for our work; for my entire year of work, I made about $25,000; KBR wanted $40,000 to dig ditches [for six weeks] to help with the rain and level a parking lot.
KBR [also] took care of our generators. Our generator mechanics weren’t allowed to fix the generators if they went down because they belonged to KBR. So our generator mechanic [was sent to work in the supply department.] If any contractors were there performing jobs the military didn’t have trained personnel to do, I didn’t see them. Many soldiers even received bonuses for choosing their jobs, only to be retrained and replaced by KBR.
Generally, the civilians employed were personable and friendly with the soldiers and seemed like good people doing their part to cash in on the war. But looking back, my fondest memories of good service were not with civilians, but with those in the military who hadn’t yet had their jobs snatched up by civilians on smaller bases.
Rachel says it all in the first sentence of that last paragraph. Even good people, when placed in a context where capitalizing on the war rather than the well-being of the troops is the main objective, will fall prey to corruption, especially if the lack of basic accountability measures ensures they will get away with it.
What is interesting is the domino effect that has been happening ever since the Bush Administration started this war without providing enough resources for us to succeed. The sub-par payment given to our troops, combined with the reports trickling back to the public about poor treatment and inadequate resources, has done nothing to encourage more young people to enlist. I wonder if the administration took the billions upon billions of dollars provided to contractors and applied it to improving the pay packages and benefits for our troops, would this boost recruitment, thus allowing the use of contractors to be scaled back?
The bottom line is, by funneling resources to the contractors, instead of to the troops, the Pentagon is actually undermining the security of our forces. The Bush administration is the first to use the premise of security to defend its policies, but at Progressive Future, we don't think that the Pentagon's actions represent the true meaning of security. Security does not mean brute force with no accountability, it means ensuring the safety of the men and women who sign up to defend our country. It means making sure any U.S. presence overseas is held accountable for the things that people do in our name. It means cleaning up our international reputation so that the United States can be a valuable member of the global community. You can help Progressive Future send the Pentagon a message that the majority of Americans don't feel the use of private contractors in Iraq makes our country safer; many have already done so by signing our Call for Consequences.
Stay tuned tomorrow for Part II of this five-part series, where Rachel will share her firsthand account of the KBR dirty water scandal.
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