NationStates Jolt Archive

An American civilian contractor has described scenes of panic and hysteria last year as Filipino construction workers were told that they were on a plane bound for Baghdad rather than Dubai.

Passengers jumped out of their seats screaming in protest until a gun-toting air steward ordered them to sit down, claimed Rory Mayberry, an emergency medical technician travelling on the same flight.

Mayberry said the men were “kidnapped” to build America’s luxurious new embassy in Baghdad’s green zone. He gave his account to a congressional committee investigating allegations of fraud at what will be America’s largest diplomatic mission.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2199263.ece

Being Shanghaied into working at the US embassy in Iraq... That's not how I'd like to start my day!

What should worry the congressional committee, however, is this part:
“Let me spell it out clearly. I were being smuggled past US security forces.”
So using forced/unwilling labour and experiencing less than optimal security...

Yeah. This embassy is gonna be great :)

Congressman Henry Wax-man, Democratic chairman of the House oversight committee investigating the claims, said: “The project has been beset by allegations that the prime contractor, First Kuwaiti, has used forced labour to build the embassy, violating the laws against human trafficking and sending exactly the wrong message to Iraq and the rest of the world about US respect for human rights.”

First Kuwaiti denied any wrongdoing.

If the allegations are correct, it's not a nice thing to do...
But then again, I'm not surprised if it's true. The reconstruction of Iraq seems to be going on without enough control, without competent people in charge, and with disregard for goals other than profit.

It's a nice day in the neighbourhood...

They've re-introduced slavery?

*goes nigra huntin*
Imma get me a big 'un.
I laugh at those who take me seriously

Haha

"Ok guys, uh just a side note, you are no longer building the Royal porn palace of Kuwait. A last minute change has put you guys on a bigger, better project in the war-torn ruins of Baghdad. KTHXBAI!"

Seriously, it sounds like the lame intro for a dungeon-crawl session of D&D. "Unwittingly, it seems the PCs have been contracted to do something much more dangerous than planned..."

So the US embassy will be an enormous complex, filled with high technology and luxury, and built on the backs of exploited slave labourers? This works on soooo many levels.

So the US embassy will be an enormous complex, filled with high technology and luxury, and built on the backs of exploited slave labourers? This works on soooo many levels.

Slave labour: Always the lowest bidder

Haha

"Ok guys, uh just a side note, you are no longer building the Royal porn palace of Kuwait. A last minute change has put you guys on a bigger, better project in the war-torn ruins of Baghdad. KTHXBAI!"

Seriously, it sounds like the lame intro for a dungeon-crawl session of D&D. "Unwittingly, it seems the PCs have been contracted to do something much more dangerous than planned..."

Pshaw. Even a group of investigators in a hardcore Call of Cthulhu session have a significantly better chance of surviving than anyone doing public work in Iraq.

"If you had a choice would you... A) Delve into forbidden secrets best forgotten by Man and risk going stark raving mad on top of being devoured or mutated by minions of horrible alien gods, or B) Do construction work in Baghdad?"

"I'll take A please."

when the report came out last week it said that the worst abuses have not been verified.

yeah we spent all week wondering what the fuck that meant. im pretty sure that the being shanghaied part is true; im pretty sure that working 12 hours a day 7 days a week for $240 a month has been verified.

im not sure i want to know what the worst abuses are.

I'm not going anywhere near Iraq until I can get slave laborers to carry a sedan chair, an umbrella, two fans and one to act as a footstool. The embassy is a good start, though.

Also, this is atrocious.

Presumably its not slavery, but 'Freedom-less labour' (for Freedom).

Passengers jumped out of their seats screaming in protest until a gun-toting air steward ordered them to sit down, claimed Rory Mayberry, an emergency medical technician travelling on the same flight.

I hope they issued fresh underwear after that at least....

Eh, slave labour. You get what you pay for.

Ah, the joys of free'um and 'mocracy.

Ah, the joys of free'um and 'mocracy.

Don't forget 'merica and the war on trrir.

Rather apt for the embassy of blissful, shining freedom and liberty in Iraq.

And no sign of FAG trying to justify slave labor in the name of spreading 'reedum and 'mocracy in Eye-raq. This really is a surprise.

Well forced labor is the best kind of labor no?

And no sign of FAG trying to justify slave labor in the name of spreading 'reedum and 'mocracy in Eye-raq. This really is a surprise.
Good things come to those who wait.

And no sign of FAG trying to justify slave labor in the name of spreading 'reedum and 'mocracy in Eye-raq. This really is a surprise.
maybe he's not logged on yet?

Well forced labor is the best kind of labor no?

It's what built the pyramids. Well, that or aliens.

Well I guess our American friends CAN stoop to lower things....

Why do you suppose that they bothered to fly people in to Baghdad to do their building? Wouldn't it be easier to take all the 'terrorists' and 'evil-dooers' from Eye-raq and force them to do it after they have been tortured? I mean otherwise they will sit around in cells doing nothing all day and waiting to be tortured again....

Oh BTW the pyramids were mainly built by farmers who had bugger all else to do while the Nile was in flood and covering their fields. This was handy because they could get something when otherwise they would have been sitting around uselessly.

It's what built the pyramids. Well, that or aliens.

What makes you think the aliens didn't use forced labor? Tractor beams are expensive!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2199263.ece

Being Shanghaied into working at the US embassy in Iraq... That's not how I'd like to start my day!

What should worry the congressional committee, however, is this part:

So using forced/unwilling labour and experiencing less than optimal security...

Yeah. This embassy is gonna be great :)



If the allegations are correct, it's not a nice thing to do...
But then again, I'm not surprised if it's true. The reconstruction of Iraq seems to be going on without enough control, without competent people in charge, and with disregard for goals other than profit.

It's a nice day in the neighbourhood...

Alright, who's fucked-up idea was this?

And no sign of FAG trying to justify slave labor in the name of spreading 'reedum and 'mocracy in Eye-raq. This really is a surprise.

I remember where MTAE wanted to enslave the idiots. He'd have been the first one to go.

Well forced labor is the best kind of labor no?
Not if you want a high-quality product at the end.

See The USSR.

Not if you want a high-quality product at the end.

See The UUSR.

Or the quality of Chinese producst as of late.

And it's no secret what kind of labor the Chinese like to use.

What makes you think the aliens didn't use forced labor? Tractor beams are expensive!

This is true.

It's what built the pyramids. Well, that or aliens.

Nope, seems to have been a large number of skilled workers. They found their village/camp a while back.

Seriously, it sounds like the lame intro for a dungeon-crawl session of D&D. "Unwittingly, it seems the PCs have been contracted to do something much more dangerous than planned..."

:D

Sometimes I believe that life should have a narrator. You could fill that role here ;)

Either way, I hope that fortress is leveled as soon as the American troops leave, which hopefully will be by 21 January 2009, if not sooner. ;)

Not if you want a high-quality product at the end.

See The USSR.

Speak for yourself.

My USSR Molniya pocket watch and 77 year old mosin-nagant work great.

(And I was being sarcastic about forced labor being the best labor)

Or the quality of Chinese producst as of late.

Which is a result of lax laws and rules combined with a drive to get the lowest prices possible, it has nothing to do with the type of workers.

Which is a result of lax laws and rules combined with a drive to get the lowest prices possible, it has nothing to do with the type of workers.

Yup.

I thought otherwise when I compared my early 90s Transformers toys with my little brother's that were built recently. My old ones were well made while his were trash. Then I noticed they both said, "Made in China."

I am still waiting for when Baghdad is going to be patrolled by Blackwater Halliburton mercenaries.

I am still waiting for when Baghdad is going to be patrolled by Blackwater Halliburton mercenaries.

Yeah... that's scheduled for *Checks documents* next week.

Pays 15.50 an hour too.

You just have to pay for your own kevlar and ammo.

Pshaw. Even a group of investigators in a hardcore Call of Cthulhu session have a significantly better chance of surviving than anyone doing public work in Iraq.really... that great? wow.

after all, in Call of Cthulhu... only the Lucky Investigators die. the rest just go insane.

"If you had a choice would you... A) Delve into forbidden secrets best forgotten by Man and risk going stark raving mad on top of being devoured or mutated by minions of horrible alien gods, or B) Do construction work in Baghdad?"

Construction work. Seriously.

a) at least I know what species will kill me.
b) there is a chance that I will finish the job.
c) I KNOW I can't outrun bullets. so I won't try. that sludge making it's way towards me might give me the false hope that I would make it out alive.

How many think this investigation will die a sudden death, and nobody will hear anything about it anymore...other than missing person's reports in various developing countries that is.

Not good, considering the Phillipines is an US ally. That's just going make the people there more anti-US.

Not good, considering the Phillipines is an US ally. That's just going make the people there more anti-US.

You mean the people have forgiven the U.S. for propping up the Marcos regime?

You mean the people have forgiven the U.S. for propping up the Marcos regime?

Unlikely.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2199263.ece

Being Shanghaied into working at the US embassy in Iraq... That's not how I'd like to start my day!

What should worry the congressional committee, however, is this part:

So using forced/unwilling labour and experiencing less than optimal security...

Yeah. This embassy is gonna be great :)



If the allegations are correct, it's not a nice thing to do...
But then again, I'm not surprised if it's true. The reconstruction of Iraq seems to be going on without enough control, without competent people in charge, and with disregard for goals other than profit.

It's a nice day in the neighbourhood...

You know, i thought i was past the point of surprise about this administration and this whole PNAC endeavour.
Now ... again ... i'm surprised and extremely pissed off.
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1876131/posts

I wonder if it would change anything if say, people started kidnapping white Americans (since they typically are policy makers), and making them work as chained slaves in say, Zimbabwe.

I'm sure glad the US will protect the freedom and democracy of these phillipine workers <cough cough>

Slave labour: Always the lowest bidder

No Grunt labor is the cheapest. We have to do it.

Haha

"Ok guys, uh just a side note, you are no longer building the Royal porn palace of Kuwait. A last minute change has put you guys on a bigger, better project in the war-torn ruins of Baghdad. KTHXBAI!"

Seriously, it sounds like the lame intro for a dungeon-crawl session of D&D. "Unwittingly, it seems the PCs have been contracted to do something much more dangerous than planned..."

Kuwait and other Gulf States don't have a problem with slavery. They do it all the time, and see it as a normal thing.

If you contract with them to provide laborers, you have to know that's probably what you're going to get - slaves and very surprised contractors.

I'm not going anywhere near Iraq until I can get slave laborers to carry a sedan chair, an umbrella, two fans and one to act as a footstool. The embassy is a good start, though.

Also, this is atrocious.

you're thinking too small...this is the way to travel...

http://www.peterbreedveld.com/archives/300Xerxes.jpg

Kuwait and other Gulf States don't have a problem with slavery. They do it all the time, and see it as a normal thing.

If you contract with them to provide laborers, you have to know that's probably what you're going to get - slaves and very surprised contractors.

Nice allies and close friends, that...

You mean the people have forgiven the U.S. for propping up the Marcos regime?

Well, probably not. At least they don't hate the USA (yet).

you're thinking too small...this is the way to travel...

http://www.peterbreedveld.com/archives/300Xerxes.jpg

But see, here's my concern: Are they going to notice me, or the chair?

Construction work. Seriously.

a) at least I know what species will kill me.
b) there is a chance that I will finish the job.
c) I KNOW I can't outrun bullets. so I won't try. that sludge making it's way towards me might give me the false hope that I would make it out alive.

And this is why I don't play CoC. I have no desire to make about twenty characters who will only last me a month of gaming. I tend to get attached to my characters. I wrote a comic and invented my own cyberpunk word because of the denial I was in over one character's death.

Kuwait and other Gulf States don't have a problem with slavery. They do it all the time, and see it as a normal thing.

If you contract with them to provide laborers, you have to know that's probably what you're going to get - slaves and very surprised contractors.

I'm gonna play the role of Wikipedian Protester and demand citations. Not that slavery exists in Gulf nations, I know that, but that it's commonly accepted.

And this is why I don't play CoC. I have no desire to make about twenty characters who will only last me a month of gaming. I tend to get attached to my characters. I wrote a comic and invented my own cyberpunk word because of the denial I was in over one character's death.

I know, I think that's why my campaign burned out so quickly this summer. The party got trapped in a situation reminiscent of The Descent, and got eaten alive by ghouls. Kinda hard to fight the buggers off with a couple of lanterns and some climbing gear.

You mean the people have forgiven the U.S. for propping up the Marcos regime?
Most people never realized or did not even know that.

Not good, considering the Phillipines is an US ally. That's just going make the people there more anti-US.
Ally? It's just America's toy.

As for the OP, I believe that there is a current standing ban against the deployment of workers to Iraq. And I found an article (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/54044/RP-seeks-Iraq-help-in-enforcing-deployment-ban)! Yeah!

But see, here's my concern: Are they going to notice me, or the chair?

Ah, it's a perfect working machine.
http://carnalreason.org/images/misc/wheel.sp.gif
Someone's gonna notice the harmony.

But see, here's my concern: Are they going to notice me, or the chair?

Damn chairs always stealing the attention :p