War zones or former war zones such as Iraq and
Afghanistan, often called hostile environments, and are
not the most obvious places for non-essential travel, but
with the right preparation and a bit of luck they can
provide the intrepid traveler with a unique experience. It
is also, of course, the job of many American's working in
war zones.

Keep in mind that it is very unusual for non-combatants /
U.S. Workers  to be wandering around war zones. Even if
you have no hostile intentions, your very presence may
result in heated reactions; among other things, you may
be mistaken for a spy. American Workers can be just as
much a target of hostility as any military force. Indeed,
American Contractors are  regarded as a soft targets.

Contractors provide a number of advantages over military
personnel or civil servants—speed of deployment,
continuity, reduction of troop requirements, reduction of
military casualties, economic inputs to local economies,
and, in some cases, executing tasks the military and
civilian workforce simply cannot.

To help one better understand the ROLE of an American
Contractor working in a War-zone, I have clarified
common mistakes made by Civilian Contractors in Iraq
and Afghanistan in the past.

This will keep you from UNFORESEEN problems as a
American Contractor working overseas.


Words of Wisdom

  • This is "At Will Employment"
    At-will employment is a doctrine of American law
    that defines an employment relationship in which
    either party can immediately terminate the
    relationship at any time with or without any
    advance warning,[1] and with no subsequent
    liability, provided there was no express contract for
    a definite term governing the employment
    relationship and that the employer does not
    belong to a collective bargaining group (i.e., has
    not recognized a union). Under this legal doctrine:
    “ any hiring is presumed to be "at will"; that is, the
    employer is free to discharge individuals "for good
    cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all," and the
    employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise
    cease work.

    ”In a landmark 2000 decision largely reaffirming
    employers' rights under the at-will doctrine, the
    Supreme Court of California explained:
    “ [A]n employer may terminate its employees at will,
    for any or no reason ... The employer may act
    peremptorily, arbitrarily, or inconsistently, without
    providing specific protections such as prior warning,
    fair procedures, objective evaluation, or preferential
    reassignment ... The mere existence of an employment
    relationship affords no expectation, protectable by law,
    that employment will continue, or will end only on
    certain conditions, unless the parties have actually
    adopted such terms.

  • You are not a government employee because you
    have a DOD badge...
    The U.S. Government is not your employer; you do
    not work directly for the Department of Defense of
    the United States Government.  The company you
    work for is the DOD (Department of Defense)
    contractor,  the company (parent company) holds a
    contingency contract with the Department of
    Defense, you are just an employee or an
    independent contractor.
    NOTE: You could look at it as the Department of
    Defense is your Company's Client, the Client is paying
    the Company to fill a contract in order to be paid .  You
    are being paid by your company to do a job, weather
    it's Iraq or America your on a company project.

  • You are not Military and will not receive military
    benefits

  • You will not carry a weapon, unless your a security
    contractor working for a security firm.  

  • Your employer will provide you with military
    escorts, private security escorts for your travel in
    these hostile work locations.

  • You will work with or close to SCW Sub-Contract
    Workers otherwise know as Third Country
    Nationals (TCN) see photo

  • The company you go to work for will only be
    required to provide DBA (Defense Base Act)
    Insurance if they elect not to purchase private
    insurance.  (There are some that actually elect and
    provide non dba insurance, so ask your prospective
    employer before hiring on if this is a issue for
    you.)  

  • If DBA is the only Insurance the prospective
    company has to offer....Purchase your own medical,
    disability,and life insurance.  (THIS IS A MUST)
    See Court Cases  


  • You may reside and work on a military camp,
    others may not.

  • You may take order from  service members
    (Military)

  • There is no "front Line" or "behind the wire". (this is
    not  M.A.S.H.)

  • These camps can become under attack by inbound
    mortar rounds,rockets and more at any given time,
    day or night 24/7 days.  

  • You are being paid to work a High Risk Job, with
    little medical benefits, save your money for any
    unexpected or unforeseen circumstances. This will
    save you and your family many headaches.

  • If you are injured and depending on the extent of
    your injuries you could become a liability to your
    employer and your services become No longer
    needed at anytime; without notice. (This will affect
    your Tax exempt status)

  • You will pay heavy taxes if you leave before a year
    is up. Put aside at least 25% of your non taxable
    income from the day you start.  Some hold back
    only 15% but always want to have that medical
    safety net.

  • You could be jailed,put in prison, or even death can
    occur without notice and/or jury and trial.


  • You may not get paid Overtime.
  • You will work 40-80+hr weekly.

CONTINUE Reading - Survival Guide
    by David Phinney CorpWatch 2005
    See the Zapata Team


    Washington Post
     July 10, 2005

    by David Phinney,
    Special to CorpWatch
    May 24th, 2005  

    FoxNews.com
    August 17, 2005

    S.F.Gate. 2004

    by John Burnett
    May 26, 2006 8:29 PM NPR Morning Edition
    Unarmed and untrained for combat, civilian truck drivers who
    haul freight between military bases in Iraq find themselves on
    the war's frontlines. At least 63 — including 24 Americans —
    have died so far, mostly from shootings and roadside bombs.
    The constant exposure to violence puts the contractors at risk
    for post-traumatic stress disorder. And some complain they're
    forgotten once they return home. Part 1 of this Report  The
    Trucker's War: On the Road in IraqMay 25, 2006  Last August,
    driver David Meredith found what little was left of the body of
    Larry Stilwell, a fellow trucker who died when his flatbed truck
    hit a homemade landmine in central Iraq. The trauma of that
    event, plus the death of a second driver he knew in a roadside
    bombing, led Meredith to quit as a driver for KBR, a
    subsidiary of Halliburton. (see Service Employers Intl.)SEII
    shell company for KBR

    The war in Iraq is killing nine civilian contractors a week on
    average, roughly three times the rate of last year, and U.S.
    Government statistics show that non-Americans do most of the
    dying…. The toilets and servicing weapons systems and computers.
    How many of those TCNs and Iraqi nationals are collecting
    their benefits as guaranteed by the Defense Base Act
    remains unexplored territory.
    By David Phinney
    Maya 24, 2007

    By PHILIP SHENONThe New YorkTimes
    February 8, 2007

    L.A. Times- July 4, 2007

          September 1, 2009


    The United States has assembled an imposing industrial army in
    Iraq that's larger than its uniformed fighting force and is
    responsible for...
    By Richard Lardner
         The Associated Press

  • NRP  Mission to Camp Corregidor ...David Meredith is a 37-year-
    old truck driver from Leavenworth, Kan. He drove for KBR in Iraq
    from September 2004 to September 2005. His first 10 months in
    Iraq were incident-free. In the following essay he describes how, in
    his 11th month there, an ordinary day ended in a deadly attack on
    his convoy.  August 11, 2005, started out like any other day in
    Camp Al Taqaddum [Camp TQ, northwest of Baghdad]. It was my
    second mission as Kerry "Carolina" Miller's bobtail driver.
    ["Bobtails," or trucks without trailers, accompany a convoy in case
    another truck breaks down so that that vehicle's trailer needs can
    continue the journey.]

  • Civilian Workers in Iraq Suffering Combat Trauma PTSD FORUM  
    Their jobs are often as dangerous as those of combat troops. But
    because they are civilians, contractors are not eligible for the
    network of support that the Pentagon has designed to assist U.S.
    troops suffering from psychological trauma.

  • How Iraq Contractors Deal With Trauma ABC NEWS
    Psychologists who treat contractors say the lack of immediate
    resources for employees in Iraq augment the effects of post-
    traumatic stress disorder and can lead to erratic and
    dangerous behavior.

  • Iraq's hidden casualties: 13,000 working for contractors   
    WASHINGTON — Casualties among private contractors in
    Iraq have soared to record levels this year, setting a pace that
    seems certain to turn 2007 into the bloodiest year yet for the
    civilians who work alongside the U.S. military in the war zone,
    according to new government numbers.
    NYTimes 2007


  • Contractors In Iraq Are Targets For Attack ... Tens of
    thousands of civilians are deployed in Iraq, providing
    logistical support to the troops. Most are motivated by
    patriotism and the hefty pay. But as CBS News chief
    investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian discovered, the
    danger is great and the toll is high.  Criss-crossing Iraq, the
    hundreds of civilian truck drivers who form a "shadow army,"
    hauling food and supplies to military bases, are a tempting
    target for attacks.
  • CBS NEWS

  • Deniable, disposable casualties SOMETHING WAS missing
    from my local Memorial Day parade.  There were soldiers,
    sailors, World War II veterans, firefighters, Girl Scouts, soccer
    players, marching bands, flag-draped floats and even a festive
    contingent from the Board of Education. But there was no
    float memorializing the hundreds of civilian contractors killed
    in Iraq.  It's fashionable to look down on the civilian
    contractors employed by firms such as Halliburton and
    Blackwater. When contractors make the news, it's usually in
    the context of stories about waste and fraud in reconstruction
    or service contracts, or human rights abuses committed by
    private security contractors. So when civilian contractors die in
    Iraq, most of us don't waste many tears. These are guys who
    went to Iraq out of sheer greed, lured by salaries far higher
    than those received by military personnel, right? If they get
    themselves killed, who cares?
    Rosa Brooks
    LA Times June 1, 2007






    Nov. 28,2007


    By Ashley Rowland Staff Write
    Dec.17,2006

    The convoy leader of a Rocky Mount-based National Guard unit
    rebuts an ABC News report that he and other members of the
    1173rd Transportation Company abandoned a civilian convoy.By
    John Cramer
    Roanoke Times
    Oct. 4, 2006



    Security Management Tate Mallory, a police officer from South
    Dakota who worked as a Dyncorp police trainer, was grievously
    wounded by a rocket-powered grenade last fall. After returning
    home, he was so mentally scarred, he said, that he begged his
    brother to kill him.


    James Risen,The New York Times
    July 5th, 2007

    Armen KeteyianCBS News
     February 11, 2009




    March 12, 2007



    Farrah Stockman January 20,2007
    Private Trauma

  • Veterans and PTSD: Iraq and Afghanistan Civilian
    Contractors Get No Treatment  A Bloody Business, retired
    Army Colonel Gerald Schumacher wrote, "since the first
    Gulf war in 1991, the portion of private forces to military
    forces has more than quadrupled." Today, the Pentagon
    estimates that America is employing some 700,000 civilian
    contractors; 22% of who are American. They are called the
    "shadow Army."

    Patrick Michels March 21, 2008

    By Brad Knickerbocker
    The Christian Science Monitor July 18, 2007


    June 17, 2007-L.A. TIMES

    By John Rutherford, NBC News producer, Washington
    December 20, 2007

    The battle scars of a private war-THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ:
    CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS -Contractors wounded or killed
    in Iraq are the anonymous casualties. Ceremonies are
    secret, and benefits are scarce.Feb.12 2007 L.A. Times

    SF GATE (San Francisco Chronicle)
    Anna Badkhen,
    November 19,2006


    Bryce Benson
    Published on 05.10.07

    AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Nov. 5, 2011

    ABC News - Feb 12, 2007

    By JOHN M. BRODER and JAMES RISEN
         Published: May 19, 2007

    By Farah Stockman
    Globe Staff
     March 6, 2008


  • Read more: Combat stress afflicts civilian contractors
    returning from Iraq -Mental health and Psychiatry news-
    WASHINGTON -- Contractors who have worked in Iraq are
    returning home with the same kinds of combat-related
    mental health problems that afflict US military personnel,
    according to contractors, industry officials, and mental
    health specialists.  But, they say, the private workers are
    largely left to find care on their own , and their problems
    are often ignored or are inadequately treated.  A vast
    second army of contractors, up to 126,000 Americans,
    Iraqis, and other foreigners, are working for the US
    government in Iraq.
  • By James Risen, New York Times News Service
    Boston Globe - July 5, 2007



  • Contractors in War Zones: Not Exactly Contracting. "U.S.
    Military forces may be out of Iraq, but the unsung and
    unrecognized part of America’s modern military
    establishment is still serving and sacrificing — the role
    played by private military and security contractors."
    By David Isenberg Oct. 09, 2012




  • The Invisible Army -For foreign workers on U.S. Bases in
    Iraq and Afghanistan, war can be hell - "More than seventy
    thousand third-country nationals” work for the American
    military in war zones; many report being held in conditions
    resembling indentured servitude by subcontractors who
    operate outside the law. Photographs by Peter Van
    Agtmael."
    The New Yorker
    by Sarah Stillman
    June 6, 2011


    ByMichael Gisick
    Stars and Stripes
    Published: June 1, 2010

    Published 5:52 am, Friday, January 25, 2013
     SF GATE
    Read More from the Houston KHOU TV - Ex-Iraq
    contractor from Texas gets prison, fraud.
    "SAN ANTONIO—A former Texas co-owner of a
    development company has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in
    prison for submitting nearly $1.3 million in fake invoices for
    Iraq reconstruction.
    Prosecutors in San Antonio say 33-year-old Jill Ann Charpia
    in August pleaded guilty to falsifying official documents.  
    The former San Antonio woman was sentenced Thursday in
    connection with fabricated documents and forged
    signatures related to Iraq reconstruction government
    contracts. She must also pay at least $920,000 in
    restitution.  
    Charpia during 2008 and 2009 co-owned Sourcing
    Specialist LLC, a privately owned firm that contracted with
    the U.S. Government to help develop business opportunities
    in Iraq."



    Masoud Popalzai, CNN December 24, 2012


    By Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent
    WASHINGTON
     Oct 21, 2012

    Here is the rub, the IRS won’t accept that a contractor
    resides in what they consider a “combat zones”. Even
    though danger zones are exactly where contractors live and
    work. And the same is true with a residence card from
    someplace like Kurdistan—it won’t fly with the IRS. In
    countries approved for contractors to live in, the agency
    uses common standards to qualify for residency: an electric
    bill, apartment lease, including involvement in the local
    economy. Yes the IRS knows the game because they have
    audited enough security contractors to repeat every story
    back to you.


       

    The ABC News investigation found that the injured
    workers' cases often took months, and sometimes years, to
    go through the Department of Labor's administrative
    judicial process.
    -Back From Iraq, Injured War-Zone Workers Fight Insurance
    Giant AIG, Face Financial Ruin  Civilian contractors who were
    injured or wounded while supporting American troops in Iraq
    continue to face long battles with insurance giant AIG for
    payment of their disability claims, despite Congressional
    inquiries and calls to reform the system that has handled tens
    of thousands of disability claims from employees of overseas
    contractors.  The injured workers, including some wounded by
    small-arms fire or IEDs during insurgent attacks, complain
    that AIG has continued to "delay and deny" their claims nearly
    a year after a joint investigation by ABC News, ProPublica, and
    the Los Angeles Times first exposed serious problems with
    AIG's handling of disability claims under a government-funded
    insurance system. An analysis found that AIG challenged
    nearly half of the claims involving the most serious injuries.
    The ABC News investigation found that the injured workers'
    cases often took months, and sometimes years, to go through
    the Department of Labor's administrative judicial process.
    Even when the judge ruled in favor of the worker, AIG did not
    always pay promptly.  Even when the judge ruled in favor of
    the worker, AIG did not always pay promptly The injured
    truck drivers expressed frustration that officials and lawmakers
    in Washington have not done anything to fix the system in
    the months since a Congressional hearing examined the
    problems.  At the hearing last June, the deputy secretary of
    the Department of Labor called for "fundamental reform" of
    the law governing insurance claims by civilian contractors, the
    Defense Base Act, that was first enacted in 1941 and originally
    designed for claims from only hundreds, not thousands, of
    contractors.
    ABC News
    By AVNI PATEL
    March 18, 2010

    Dennis Nalick pleaded guilty of one felony count of mail fraud
    in January, admitting that he'd deposited a client's $137,826
    check into his own account and spent it.
    July 21, 2011   BY ROBERT PATRICK


    "They don't have to explain themselves. We've all witnessed
    them shooting up cars, and then they just drive off in their
    SUVs, wearing their ballcaps, sunglasses, and full beards. If we
    shot up a car, we couldn't leave the scene for two days," said
    (Ret.) marine Sgt. Nick Benas, who served in Iraq from July
    2004 to March 2005. [EDITOR: this is the "Delta Force" look
    and don't forget to add the leg holster!] Afterward, he turned
    down an $186,000 offer to train Iraqi police as a civilian
    contractor. Advocates for contractors, like Jane Crowder, who
    started www.AmericanContractorsinIraq.com as a support
    network for the community of civilian workers, say most
    contractors don't earn that much and are in many cases
    victims, too, fighting for medical benefits and lacking the
    institutional support military veterans take for granted. "Most
    of them get injured or killed before they make $50,000, then
    they get sent home with no medical coverage or follow-up
    care," she told the Knoxville Voice in June. "Once you leave
    Iraq, you're alone." Danger, burnout, injury and death have
    led to significant turnover. The elite former Navy Seals and
    Army Special Forces who formed the backbone of the security
    enterprise in its early days are a vanishing breed, replaced by
    less qualified profit-seekers, Third World commandos, and
    "ham and eggers" looking to reinvent themselves into
    something worthy of bravado back home. Pelton suspects that
    some with the new "skill set" honed in Iraq may never want to
    go home and will continue looking for action and money
    elsewhere. "It's going to have a significant impact" on the
    global security landscape, he said. "I already see guys doing
    bounty hunting or getting involved in questionable training
    programs overseas." If the military ever wanted to go all the
    way and start hiring mercenaries to do their fighting, there's
    probably a division ready to go.

    December 17 2007 — By CJ Grisham
     [UPDATE] A few of you have contacted Halliburton reference
    this issue and received the following email:  You need to
    contact KBR. Their director of communications, Heather
    Browne, can be reached at 713-753-3775 or heather.
    browne@kbr.com. Halliburton is improperly named in this
    matter and, as such, we expect Halliburton to be dismissed
    from the action as Halliburton has no responsibility, legal or
    otherwise, for the actions alleged. It would be inappropriate
    for Halliburton to comment on the merits of a matter affecting
    only the interest of KBR.  Further, Halliburton is not a defense
    contractor. Founded in 1919, Halliburton is one of the world’s
    largest providers of products and services to the energy
    industry. With nearly 50,000 employees in approximately 70
    countries, the company serves the upstream oil and gas
    industry throughout the lifecycle of the reservoir – from
    locating hydrocarbons and managing geological data, to
    drilling and formation evaluation, well construction and
    completion, and optimizing production through the life of the
    field.  Halliburton and its subsidiaries have no employees or
    work in Iraq or Afghanistan . Regards, Melissa
     Initially, I thought that this was just a media spin for the
    company since I KNEW that KBR was a subsidiary of
    Halliburton. Well, it turns out that in April 2007, KBR
    officially split from Halliburton to become a stand alone
    company. So, Melissa is correct but doesn’t do a good job of
    explaining WHY her company is no longer in Iraq. But,
    NOTHING HAPPENED PRIOR TO APRIL 2007?!
    Earlier this year, US authorities began investigating the
    company for bribery, bid rigging, defrauding the military and
    illegally profiting in Iran. In March, it began selling off KBR
    who was adding to the controversy by overcharging the
    military and serving contaminated food and water to the
    troops in Iraq. To avoid further trouble, the company moved
    its headquarters to the United Arab Emirates. I can’t find
    anything that says that Halliburton is or is not in Iraq
    anymore, but they HAVE managed to successfully ditch the
    blame for the rogue KBR!  


    In a largely invisible cost of the war in Iraq, nearly 800
    civilians working under contract to the Pentagon have been
    killed and more than 3,300 hurt doing jobs normally handled
    by the U.S. military, according to figures gathered by The
    Associated Press.Exactly how many of these employees doing
    the Pentagon's work are Americans is uncertain. But the
    casualty figures make it clear that the Defense Department's
    count of more than 3,100 U.S. military dead does not tell the
    whole story. "It's another unseen expense of the war," said
    Thomas Houle, a retired Air Force reservist whose brother-in-
    law died while driving a truck in Iraq. "It's almost disrespectful
    that it doesn't get the kind of publicity or respect that a
    soldier would."Employees of defense contractors such as
    Halliburton, Blackwater and Wackenhut cook meals, do
    laundry, repair infrastruture, translate documents, analyze
    intelligence, guard prisoners, protect military convoys, deliver
    water in the heavily fortified Green Zone and stand sentry at
    buildings - often highly dangerous duties almost identical to
    those performed by many U.S. troops. The U.S. has
    outsourced so many war and reconstruction duties that there
    are almost as many contractors (120,000) as U.S. troops
    (135,000) in the war zone.

    From ABC News
    Along with congressional hearings on allegations of
    recklessness against Blackwater USA security forces in Iraq,
    questions are also being raised about the way military
    contractors deal with traumatic stress while overseas and
    upon returning home.  The House began hearings Tuesday on
    the military contractor Blackwater following reports about the
    company's employees in Iraq who were linked to the killings
    of 11 Iraqi civilians in September...In light of the high-profile
    incidents, possible explanations for the company's actions are
    emerging, including psychological harm such as post-
    traumatic stress that led to erratic behavior by some
    contractors.  "I have never heard of a company offering
    psychological counseling," a military contractor who works for
    another company said on the condition of anonymity because
    of his firm's involvement with the Blackwater investigation.


  • Civilian veterans of the Iraq war Thousands of American
    civilians are working as contractors in Iraq, doing the jobs
    outsourced by the Pentagon to companies such as the
    Halliburton subsidiary KBR. They deliver food, water, military
    equipment, gas and other supplies to U.S. bases; they work as
    mechanics in car pools; they manage dining facilities and
    military plane flights in and out of the country. Some get
    kidnapped or killed, some get wounded, and many return
    bearing deep emotional scars.  After the Chronicle story on
    Sunday about U.S. contractors suffering from emotional
    trauma I received several emails whose authors suggested that
    the contractors deserved it.
  • More at SFGATE:Civilian Veterans of Iraq


  • From Laura T. Coffey at MSNBC Part III Part 3: Venturing
    ‘outside the wire’ in Baghdad Frustrations abound, but
    Deierlein’s unit finds a way to make a difference.  Meanwhile,
    the Senate puts in some hours...is that to make up for the
    incredible numbers of days off the Congress took last year?
    From the AP at MSNBC Senate nears end to all-night Iraq
    debate Lawmakers spar over redeployment proposals; critics
    call move ‘nonsense’.  From Arianna Huffington Join Us for a
    Live Chat on Ending the War in Iraq. From Tom Turnipseed
    at Common Dreams George Bush and Lindsey Graham Push
    the Power of the President and Generals Over People and
    Troops.  From John Nichols at The Nation Harry Reid Finally
    Starts to Fight Smart. A New York Times Editorial The Politics
    of Fear. From Brad Knickerbocker, The Christian Science
    Monitor at Truthout Silent Surge in Contractor "Armies". We
    need to decide that these 'armies' need to be under the
    control of the people, before they control the people. And, of
    course, since the people working for the contractors are in a
    legal limbo, getting help for physical, mental, and spiritual
    injuries is difficult - there is help with that here American
    Contractors in Iraq.

    Written by:  Julia Davis; who is a National Security Expert,
    National Security whistleblower-National Security/Anti-
    Terrorism/Immigration Expert as a former federal officer
    having served with the Department of Homeland Security,
    Customs and Border Protection while being processed for
    employment as a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of
    Investigation
HIGH RISK CONTRACTING
Third Country National Contractor
Security Contractors in the Middle East
Airmen teach contractors
life-saving skills

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- A KBR
Theater Transportation Mission
Recovery senior mechanic tests the
strength of a combination spreader
shear, or ?mini Jaws of Life? Tool by
cutting into a test vehicle during a
refresher training session on using
the tools here, March 5. The class
was led by 332nd Expeditionary
Civil Engineer Squadron Fire
Department Airmen. The
combination spreader shear can
exert 20,900 pounds per square
inch of force at their tips and can
both cut and force apart vehicle
parts. The U.S. Government
contracted senior mechanics are
responsible for retrieving stuck,
broken down and destroyed
military vehicles throughout Iraq.
The tools help them to cut away
obstacles from stuck vehicles as
well as get inside of vehicles in the
event someone is trapped inside.
(U.S. Air Force photo/ Master Sgt.
Heather Cabral)
Troops and Contractors
Come into Conflict in Iraq
by Eric Westervelt    NPR Radio
June 13, 2005
Zapata Security Contractors

The Trucker's War: On
The  Road In Iraq - NPR
Radio-Trucks travel as fast
as possible, on poor
highways, to avoid
ambushes. This blaze is
the aftermath of an
accident when one truck
rear-ended another on
Main Supply Route
Tampa, a north-south
highway in Iraq. One
driver was killed in the
incident.

On the ground in Iraq, a
Surge of Deterioration Carl
Conetta, co-director of the
Project on Defense
Alternatives, Dahr Jamail,
Independent Journalist,
covering the Middle East.
His most recent article on
Tom Dispatch: Iraq on My
Mind, Thousands of Stories
to Tell -- And No One to
Listen,  U.S. Contractors in
Iraq and at home Jeremy
Scahill, author of Blackwater,
The Rise of World’s Most
Powerful Mercenary Army,

Jana Crowder, owner of  
website,
AmericanContractorsinIraq.
com for contractors seeking
help.
Cindy Morgan, former
Civilian Contractor and also
author of "Cindy in Iraq, a
civilian year in a war zone”
Read More about Cindy!
Click Now to listen to KPFA radio show
kBR Warning for Truckers in Iraq
-Reference materials' site for
The Constant American.

(70,000)“third-country
nationals” work for the
American military in war zones;
many report being held in
conditions resembling
indentured servitude by
subcontractors who operate
outside the law.

Victims of Complacency: The
Ongoing Trafficking and Abuse
of Third Country Nationals by U.
S. Government Contractors

  • Watch where you say and post on the Internet and careful
    whom you talk to.   STAY AWAY from POSTING on BLOGS.  If
    your injured this is especially true;  if you have a case,
    remember: this can damage your case and stop disability
    payments.  

  • Worse, it makes you look like just another HOSTILE
    EMPLOYEE!  NO-ONE take Hostile people SERIOUSLY.

  • KEY: Just having your name mentioned in a New Paper can do
    you harm.

  • Some may tell you this is illegal, but due to the Nature of these
    Missions these companies will and can do what ever it takes to
    Shut One Up and to keep others from following along in those
    foot steps.  .  (Talking to a contractors the other day and found
    that he was injured working for KBR and went throught the
    DBA Court process in 6 month and was finished.

  • This is "At Will employment".  - Making rules as they go in a
    War zone is legal, due to the circumstances and nature of the
    job.  
    So don't be expecting American Law to save your Job...
Contractors Overseas Jobs




Military Contractor Vets


Find More Jobs HERE


Hire or Something More? - The
word mercenary itself elicits
even further negative views of
killers without morals who,
according to Kim Nossal of
McCaster University, ‘are
commonly assumed to live in a
nether world of clandestine
recruitment…

Written by:
Matthew Barnes, MA Candidate
IDC, Herzliya, Lauder School of
Government
2010
WELCOME
TRAINING
RADIO SHOWS
REFERENCE DESK
Research and Reports
Stress
Published August 17, 2005
FoxNews.com

Private workers left helpless after war’s
stress -Telegram
By James Risen THE NEW YORK TIMES

'Contractors' in Iraq outnumber US troops:  
United for Peace in Pierce Country
Friday, 06 July 2007

In outsourced U.S. wars, contractor deaths
top 1,000
World Armed Forces
July 4 2007

Industry Talk: Mission Critical
Psychological Services
Feral Jundi

Government Contractors: Hidden
Casualties, PTSD

The Middle East’s Contractor Problem
January 8, 2013 -  Afghan President Hamid
Karzai is spending the week in Washington
D.C. He is meeting with U.S. President
Barack Obama as well as other senior
administration officials, and the talks are
expected to help set the framework for U.S.
involvement in Afghanistan after the bulk
of American and NATO forces leave at the
end of 2014. However, even when the
American military pulls the majority of its
troops out of Afghanistan, there will still
be a huge American presence in the
country.

Private Contractors in Conflict Zones:
The Good, the Bad, and the Strategic
Impact- Dr. T.X. Hammes, a retired U.S.
Marine Corps officer, is a Senior Research
Fellow in the Center for Strategic Research,
Institute for National Strategic Studies, at
the National Defense University. this
article was originally published as Institute
for National Strategic Studies Strategic
Forum 260
By T.X. Hammes
(NDU Press, November 2010)
.

Warzone Contractors Boost Market for
America’s Number-One Export: Lawsuits-
"The presence of contractors in warzones is
growing by the day. More than 150,000 are
in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also on the rise is
the level of scrutiny they receive from the
U.S. government and international
organizations, in addition to more
cutthroat competition from peer firms. As a
result, contractors are creating an
increasingly lucrative industry for law
firms. Attorneys who represent battlefield
contractors are busier than ever. They are
dealing with investigations, battlefield
torts, employment litigation, international
lawsuits, defense contractor disputes and
the complex laws of armed conflict. The
large presence of U.S. troops and
contractors in warzones has opened the
floodgates of litigation as foreign
governments and firms discover the high-
stakes payoffs of the American legal
system."
written by:
www.nationaldefensemagazine



Contractors on the Battlefield: Outsourcing
of Military Services   March 2011    
By Denis Chamberland  


At today’s Senate hearing on Afghanistan, a
noteworthy discussion about the role of
contractors. Sen. McCaskill demands more
oversight from Defense and State..."
McCaskill expressed concern to Defense
Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton about the growing
number of contractors supporting U.S.
forces there. There are currently 75,000
contractors in Afghanistan, supporting
71,000 U.S. troops. In addition, there are
5,200 security contractors working for the
State Department. McCaskill seemed
alarmed by the large percentage of Afghans
who are part of that contractor work force
--- 50,000 of the 75,000 battlefield
contractors and 5,000 of the 5,200 security
contractors are Afghan nationals. Clinton
said the decision to employ so many
Afghans was somewhat intentional. But she
assured McCaskill that they were being
properly monitored. Also at the hearing,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm.
Michael Mullen, said that hiring Afghans
makes sense because it brings money into
the local economy and contributes to
stability."

Veteran fights VA over exposure to burn
pits-The Department of Veterans Affairs
acknowledges that Wymore's health
problems are war-related.

But the VA believes his condition may
improve. Because of that, the VA has yet to
declare Wymore permanently disabled. As
a result, his family is not eligible for many
benefits. Those include medical insurance
for his wife and college costs for their three
sons. Also, Wymore worries that should he
die, the VA will not pay a survivor's benefit
to his wife unless she can prove his death
is directly related to his military service, a
challenge he doesn't want to put her
through.

Contractors Using Military Clinics
Military clinics and field hospitals in Iraq
and Afghanistan have supplied more than
$1 million a month in health-care services
to civilian contractors during the past two
years without seeking reimbursement from
their employers, as provided by law,
according to a new audit by the Defense
Department inspector general.
Investigators cited cases in which
contractors were hospitalized with heart
problems, pneumonia, an accidental self-
inflicted gun shot or injuries from a blast,
but the medical facilities did not bill the
patients' employers for $141,340 for their
stays. At the time, the military did have
rates of $2,041 a day for nonmilitary
inpatients and $195 per visit for outpatients.

Two contractors, Blackwater Worldwide,
now known as Xe, and KBR, operated
medical facilities for their own personnel
and for other nonmilitary people. The cost
of those facilities was included in their
overall contracts, but the IG investigators
said the contractors did not break out what
they were charging the Army overall for the
medical treatment they were providing.

The IG found that military medical units
had incomplete or inaccurate records. For
example, in a sampling of about 200
records, 13 percent incorrectly identified
patients as contractors, 22 percent had
duplicate entries, and 25 percent showed
discrepancies between computer and paper
records.
In May 2007, Gen. David H. Petraeus, then
the commander of Multi-National Force-
Iraq, wrote the Pentagon that the medical
facilities were under increased demands
because of the treatment provided to
contractors and that they were consuming
"precious resources that should be used in
providing care to coalition military forces."
The reply was that Defense officials would
look into the matter and explore options.
As of last month, according to the IG
report, no alternative option had been put
forward.
Washington Post
2009

AIG faces hearing on denial of medical
claims by contractors injured in iraq and
afghanistan

AIG faces inquiry over medical care for U.S.
contractors-  A lawmaker seeks to
investigate whether the insurance giant
and others denied treatment to civilian
workers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
LA Times
2009

Kucinich Asks AIG Why It’s Denying
Claims From Injured Contractors in Iraq

Iraq detains US contractors -US private
security contractors securing the site where
a roadside bomb exploded near the Iranian
embassy in central Baghdad (AFP Photo /
Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

Breaking ground in Iraq
February 27, 2013 by David Snook
Lebanese company Robert’s Group is due
to open its first family entertainment
centre in Iraq next month. The selected
location, with a local partner, is a
standalone outlet with 40 games and is in
Baghdad.  The new unit is currently in the
final stages of completion and will be the
subject of a formal opening on a date to be
set by the company. Robert’s Group,
founded by Robert Elias, a noted Lebanese
operator and distributor, is now run by his
son, Georges as COO and he plans a string
of locations across Iraq, notably with a
3,000sq.ft flagship store in 2014.
“Most amusement outlets in Iraq,” said
Elias, “are actually restaurants with a small
area set aside for a few games. We believe
that ours will be the first purpose-built
FEC to enter the market.”  A full report on
the company’s investment in Iraq and its
other activities will appear in InterGame’s
Middle East Special Issue in April.


Tue, Feb 26, 2013
中文 US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA PACIFIC
CHINA DAILY
Afghanistan expels special forces
After a thorough discussion, it became
clear that armed individuals named as US
special forces stationed in Wardak province
were engaging in harassing, annoying,
torturing and even murdering innocent
people," Faizi added.
Longtime plague-
The US military has said it will discuss the
issue with Afghan officials and it takes
seriously all allegations of misconduct.
Wardak is a deeply troubled flashpoint
where a Chinook helicopter was shot down
by the Taliban in August 2011, killing eight
Afghans and 30 US citizens - the deadliest
single incident for US troops in the entire
war.  Analysts suggested the order
underscored Kabul's growing distrust of US-
led international troops and their desire to
control local militia, trained by the US but
which operate without their knowledge in
the war against the Taliban.
Relations between Karzai and Washington
have long been troubled, and with the bulk
of NATO's 100,000 combat soldiers due to
leave and the Afghan president to step
down next year, there is huge uncertainty
about the future.  "It appears to be an on-
the-spot, emotional decision, based on a
long-standing frustration that there are
forces, ... Afghan and international, that
are uncontrollable," said Martine van
Bijlert of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.
The New York Times quoted Afghan
officials as saying that the order was taken
as a last resort after they had tried and
failed to get the coalition to cooperate with
an investigation into claims of murder and
torture.


Iraq Contractors Convene in Tennessee
by Ann Lloyd
February 12, 2007
The first meeting of contractors who have
served in Iraq was held in Tennessee this
weekend. The event aimed to give
contractors a chance to discuss their
experiences and get advice for adjusting to
life back at home.

What are the pros and cons of private
contractors, such as Blackwater and
Halliburton, in Iraq?


Profitting off injured contract workers in
Iraq Henry Waxman, the U.S.
Congressman representing California’s 30th
District, which includes West Hollywood
and Beverley Hills, is spittin’ mad at
private contractors in Iraq. According to
CNN, Waxman raged yesterday that the
Pentagon allows private contractors to
negotiate worker’s compensation without
any major concern for competition
between insurance providers to make sure
taxpayers get a good deal. See, we bankroll
workers’ comp for such companies, but the
state department, the corps of engineers
and other federal bodies that aren't the
Pentagon make carriers compete to offer
the federal government their coverage.
Meanwhile, insurance providers that sell
the insurance to contractors for the defense
department, like KBR and Blackwater, who
then send us the bill, make huge profits of
nearly 40 percent, according to Waxman.
CNN quoted Waxman saying that during
the last half decade, the four largest private
insurers have made almost $600 million in
profits through this system. Waxman made
the comments at a Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform hearing
to discuss procurement waste in the
Pentagon where he said audits have shown
the defense department model for workers’
comp is dysfunctional. In one case,
Waxman says, KBR paid the AIG insurance
company $284 million for workers’ comp,
but according to the congressman via CNN:
“Since KBR's contract is a cost-plus
contract, this $284 million premium, plus a
mark-up for KBR of up to $8 million, gets
billed to the taxpayer, bringing the total
costs to the taxpayer to $292 million. Out
of this amount, just $73 million actually
goes to injured contractors, and AIG and
KBR pocket over $100 million as profit....
What makes the situation even worse is
the people this program is supposed to
benefit -- the injured employees working
for contractors -- have to fight the
insurance companies to get their benefits.
"Delays and denials in paying claims are
the rule.”
The last good piece we saw on workplace
injuries among contract workers in Iraq
and Afghanistan appeared in the Texas
Observer not long ago and described the
rising rate of PTSD among them. The New
York Times says that more than 900
contractors have been killed in Iraq and
12,000 more injured since the start of the
war.

A Soldiers Perspective from Military
Gear.com
Screwed By Halliburton – Help Them
The Washington Post reported today that
the Army is to end the exclusive contracts
that Halliburton has been enjoying since
2003. At first, I didn’t mind this because
there aren’t too many defense contractors
who can handle the massive task that
Halliburton was hired to do. We’ve been
finding out little by little that even the
mighty Halliburton isn’t God and can’t do
it all.


Under the deal, Halliburton had
exclusive rights to provide the military
with a wide range of work that included
keeping soldiers around the world fed,
sheltered and in communication with
friends and family back home.
Government audits turned up more than
$1 billion in questionable costs. Whistle-
blowers told how the company charged
$45 per case of soda, double-billed on
meals and allowed troops to bathe in
contaminated water.

This isn’t the least of Halliburton’s
problems. It turns out that Halliburton
is having trouble taking care of its own
people injured in Iraq as well.


PTSD Conference – Day 2
Knoxville, TN., the VFW Post 1733 donated
it building to the Civilian Contractors from
Iraq and Afghanistan for a conference on
PTSD. The doors were open to any and all
Veterans, from any War as well as the
civilian contractors. The conference was
held to educate and inform all of what
PTSD was and the treatments available.
We even had a Vietnam Veteran that has
been suffering from PTSD ever since he
came home. It was hard for him to believe
that it may be possible that he could be
healed, that he didn’t have to live with this
another day.

BlogTalkRadio/AmericanCondtractorsInIraq


IndyMedia
He said his clients told him that Marines
had "slammed around" several contractors,
stripped them to their underwear and
placed a loaded weapon near their heads.
"How does it feel to be a big, rich
contractor now?" the Marines shouted at
the men, Schopper said, in an apparent
reference to the large salaries security
contractors can make in Iraq.

KBR Salaries, Bonuses and Benefits.
INDEED.COM
If you are going to give them advice, give it
all. Tell them about the nearly 1000 KBR
deaths, 1000's of injuries, with no
restitution. Waste Fraud and Abuse, that is
currently under investigation. The 1000's of
people that are coming home with diseases
and conditions never seen before in the
US. Severe PTST. The assaults, the rapes.
And KBR has just turns their back.
The fact that the government has gotten
involved and had made shell companies
like SEII liable for payroll taxes s just a
start.


DemocraticUnderground.com
Iraq has a Government: Can we Please
Come Home Now?  Iraq has a
Government: Can we Please Come Home
Now?
Iraq has marked three milestones this fall.
The formal military mission of US troops
was ended by President Obama on August
31, and while about 50,000 troops remain,
some of them occasionally engaged in
combat at the invitation of the Iraqi
government, there are no large US military
campaigns. The remaining 50,000 troops
are scheduled to be out of the country on
December 31, 2011, and newly reinstalled
prime minister Nuri al-Maliki is insisting
that the deadline will be met. While many
Americans are skeptical that the
withdrawal will take place on time, so far it
has been running according to schedule.
And it should be remembered that US foot-
dragging could revive the Mahdi Army and
other anti-American militias, who will not
put up with a long-term US military
presence in their country. As the number of
US troops shrinks, they become more
vulnerable to militia attack.  Second, last
week the United Nations Security Council
removed Chapter 7 restrictions on Iraq,
which had established the ‘food for oil’
program that restricted Iraqi petroleum
exports and forbade it to have even civilian
nuclear energy. Iraq had been in a kind of
UN receivership, but as of July 2011 will
again become a fully sovereign nation in
the law.  Third, Iraq finally formed a new
government of national unity, headed by
incumbent prime minister Nuri al-Maliki
The new government is from the point of
view of the US and Saudi Arabia too close
to Iran (and it is in fact a result of Iranian
intervention in Iraqi political affairs, since
Iran convinced the Iraqi Shiites to
cooperate with one another, creating
momentum for Nuri al-Maliki to gain a
second term).

Contractor Armies Thrive in Iraq
180,000 civilians working in legal limbo
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

An Invisible Army... MOVIE SCRIPT!
A single mother of three boys and a truck
driver in heart of Arkansas, Cindy Morgan
is use to tough times and keeping up in a
manʼs world. But when the company she
drives for closes itʼs doors for good, Cindy
is faced with losing her house and her
kids.  With no hope of work in town, Cindy
falls into despair until a former coworker
tells her of a good paying driving job. Only
this job is not anywhere near town. Itʼs not
even in the country. Itʼs driving supplies
for the troops in Iraq. Faced with losing
her kids or risking the dangers of war,
Cindy heads straight toward the biggest
challenge of her life.  “It was one year ago
today that I kissed my 3 boys goodbye,
hopped on the back of my Dadʼs
motorcycle and made the drive to the
airport to catch the plane to Baghdad.”  
This script is inspired by true story of
Cindy Morgan, a former welfare mother
and truck driver from Arkansas , whose life
was forever changed by working in Iraq  as
a civilian contractor for G.U.T. a company
that hires civilians to drive supplies to the
military bases

Contractors in Iraq-RockyFlats
Events involving U.S. contractors in Iraq
since the troop withdrawal do not bode
well for diplomatic relations between the
two countries. A New York Times article by
Michael S. Schmidt and Eric Schmitt
published in January 2012 describes how
Iraqi authorities had detained “…a few
hundred contractors in recent weeks…”

Total War Center: Blackwater license being
pulled in Iraq
Contractors die in scores while corporate
lackeys make millions. A micrography of all
this war.

FederalJack.com
AIG systematically denies claims of injured
US contractors

Bloomberg ...Halliburton, KBR Burn Pit
Suit Thrown Out by U.S. Judge
Halliburton Co. (HAL) and KBR Inc. are
entitled to the same legal protection as U.
S. armed forces when serving as military
contractors, a judge ruled, dismissing
claims over so-called burn pits in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
U.S. District Judge Roger Titus threw out
57 consolidated lawsuits against the
companies brought mainly by military
personnel who claim they suffered
damaging health effects from exposure to
the contractors’ pits, where items including
medical waste, paints and pesticides are
burned in war zones. “The critical interests
of the United States could be compromised
if military contractors were left ‘holding the
bag’ for claims made by military and other
personnel that could not be made against
the military itself,” Titus said in a decision
released yesterday in Greenbelt, Maryland.

End of Immunity Worries U.S. Contractors
in Iraq WASHINGTON — The thousands
of American contractors in Iraq who have
been above Iraqi law since the war began
are suddenly facing a new era in which
their United States passports will no longer
protect them from arrest and
imprisonment.

Three years ago, at a party thrown by U.S.
civilian contractors in Iraq, a young ex-
Marine named Jason Pope was shot to
death by a drunken co-worker. Now, his
family has filed a lawsuit in federal court
claiming the military contractor, DynCorp
International, and 12 of its employees
conspired to cover up exactly how Pope
died.
ABC News 2012

New Bill Would Let Iraq, Afghanistan
Veterans Apply Their Experience to City
Trade Licenses- Veterans who’ve returned
home from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans
will be able to use their military experience
to qualify for plubming, electrical and
other trade liceneses under a new bill in
the City Council.
March 2013

Fallen DynCorp employees honored with
Defense of Freedom medals
DynCorp held a ceremony to honor 17
employees who were killed in Iraq and
Afghanistan.  The DynCorp employees
were killed between 2004 and 2011, and
were working on State Department
contracts providing police training,
according to a company press release.

PAE Employee Posthumously Honored
with Defense of Freedom Medal- a PAE
employee who was killed in 2007 while
deployed to Afghanistan, was honored with
the Defense of Freedom medal in a
ceremony held last weekend in Gilbert,
Ariz.  Ramirez was killed by a suicide
bomber while supporting the U.S.
Department of State Corrections System
Support Program, through which she
mentored, trained and advised prison
officials within the Afghan corrections
system and advocated for the humane
treatment of incarcerated Afghans, with a
special focus on the rights of female
prisoners.  PAE hosted the medal
presentation ceremony in Ramirez's home
state, where she had previously served as a
corrections officer and where her family
currently resides.

Defense Base Act Class Action Lawsuit
Dismissed -January 2nd, 2013
Author: Jon Robinson
When a federal enabling statute provides
an exclusive remedy (like the LHWCA and
DBA), RICO actions are barred.  Here, the
Plaintiffs claim that the Defendants
conspired to “[make] misrepresent[ations]
to injured parties and the DOL and
commit crimes under the DBA by denying
claims using fraud….”  But Section 31(c) of
the LHWCA already provides criminal
penalties for the same conduct.  The same
is true for the Plaintiffs’ mail and wire fraud
claims: Section 14 of the LHWCA has a
comprehensive system of financial
penalties.   Therefore, because the LHWCA
and DBA already provide remedies for the
alleged wrong, the Plaintiffs could not
maintain their RICO claims.

Finally, Plaintiffs did not state the essential
elements of either a failure to
accommodate or a disability discrimination
under the ADA.  To establish a prima facie
case of unlawful discrimination based on a
failure to accommodate under the ADA, a
plaintiff must show that: (1) he is a
qualified individual with a disability within
the meaning of the ADA; (2) that the
employer had notice of his disability; (3)
there was some reasonable
accommodation denied to him; and (4)
such accommodation would have enabled
him to perform the essential functions of
this job.  Here, the Plaintiffs made “only
conclusory allegations” regarding their
status as qualified individuals, and they
failed to allege that they requested job
accommodations which their employer
denied.  ***Brink v.  XE Holding, LLC, — F.
Supp.2d —-, No. 11-1733, slip op. (D.D.C.
Dec. 21, 2012).

Iraq Veterans Awarded $85M in Personal
Injury Lawsuit Against KBR, Halliburton
12 soldiers who became ill after serving in
the Iraq war have been awarded an $85
million settlement in their personal injury
lawsuit against American military
contractor Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR).   
In their lawsuit, the first concerning
soldiers’ exposure to a toxin at a water
plant in southern Iraq, the servicemen
allege that KBR was negligent. Specifically,
they claim that as a result of exposure to
sodium dichromate, they now suffer from
respiratory diseases. Furthermore, they are
deeply concerned that a carcinogen the
toxin contains, hexavalent chromium,
could cause cancer later in life.   Each of
the dozen Army National Guardsman
involved in the lawsuit was awarded
$850,000 in non-economic damages and
another $6.25 million in punitive damages
for "reckless and outrageous indifference"
to their health.  
Outsourcing military services
is in vogue. Why?

I think that the main reason that
we're seeing this aggressive push
to outsource military services is
there's a tremendous amount of
military. As a general rule, when
we talk about a smaller military,
people think of having more war
fighters or more trigger pullers.

So what that means is anything
that isn't associated with more
fighting … is deemed to be
something that the private sector
can provide. And there's been a
tremendous amount of pressure
on that as we downsized the
came down.

But if you're downsizing the
military by outsourcing the
functions, are you really
downsizing the military, or are
you just hiring other people to
do the jobs that soldiers used to
do?





Schooner is an expert on military
contracting and a professor at
The George Washington
University Law School. He
previously served as the
associate administrator for
procurement law and legislation
at the Office of Federal
Procurement Policy in the Office
of Management and Budget.
Schooner says that private
contractors like KBR [Halliburton
subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and
Root] are doing a good job in
Iraq under the circumstances.
"Regardless of the marginal
dollars involved, KBR has fed our
troops, housed our troops,
provided showers, water, laundry
and the like," he tells
FRONTLINE. "They've lost a
staggering number of personnel.
They have had a tremendous
number of people injured. And
the bottom line is they've been
slaughtered in the court of public
opinion, and they haven't left."
But Schooner is critical of the
Pentagon for not having enough
personnel to manage the
contracts and says that it has
become overly reliant on the
private companies. "When I was
a young Army officer, as I learned
the military doctrine ... The
military relied on contractors on
the battlefield only to the extent
that they could fight without the
contractors," he says. "That's
simply no longer the case." This
is the edited transcript of an
interview conducted on May 19,
2005.

READ MORE from PBS Front Line
www.warzoneworkers.com
centuries ago -- private
contractors operated in war
zones. Two specialists on
international politics and the
military's use of private
contractors offer some history
Long before Iraq -- in fact, Long
before Iraq -- in fact, centuries
ago -- private contractors
operated in war zones. Two
specialists on international
politics and the military's use of
private contractors offer some
history and context for how we
should understand these
companies and the evolution of
their use.
Schooner
Private contractors: 250,000 mercenaries
fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
MELANGE
supporting global, social & ecological
justice, cultural expression and the
technological revolution
Security Contractors Blackwater
Many companies hold contracts with the United States
Agency for International Development economic and
humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.  
Their employees work in the most uncertain and unstable of
conditions - to restore essential, life sustaining services,
providing the solid foundation for our Troops.  They exhibit
the creativity, hard work, and sacrifice necessary to overcome
the challenges presented by a unique and hostile
environment.  Their contributions and commitment to this
historic effort, will benefit not only the soldiers, but  the
people of Iraq and Afghanistan for generations to come, and
will be gratefully acknowledged and recognized.  These are
your American Contractors!

written by: Jana Crowder
Supporting Americans Working in War Zones. Hi,
I'm Jana and it's come to my attention that we
have completely forgotten about American
Contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It
seems with all the negative impact on medical
neglect and burn pits, by KBR, the Private
Security Scandals... We have forgotten and
overlooked the positive side our U.S. Contractor
supporting our troops.  Without them (American
Contractors) our Troops couldn't win the war on
terrorism!  

After reading a Book mailed to me by a Truck
Driver/ Pastor in Iraq, called "Other Sons and
Daughters" it really moved me and opened my
eye's to the life experience's one will endure.  He
really gives you a day to day look at operations
on military base and working for KBR.  Even
though he was injured, has an attorney and
fighting for  medical with AIG, he told me he'd do
it all over again!  Thats a true Cowboy!   These
American contractors are our Unsung Hero's!

KBR CEO Jeff Rock write an awesome review and
Ranks this book with 5 STARS!
Security Contractors Play By 'Big Boy Rules' In
Iraq

Washington Post reporter Steve Fainaru has
extensively covered the "parallel army" of private
security contractors. His book Big Boy Rules:
America's Mercenaries Fighting In Iraq, details
the tens of thousands of "mercs" who arrived in
Iraq in the absence of sufficient levels of U.S.
troops.
Steve Fainaru reports on private security and
largely hidden war in Iraq.
Steve Fainaru is among the pre-eminent
investigative reporters; Fainaru won the Pulitzer
Prize for International Reporting in 2008 for his
10-part series on widespread abuses involving
Blackwater and other private security contractors
in Iraq. His work, the culmination of three years
covering the Iraq war, led to major changes in
the way private security companies are
employed and managed by the U.S. government.

Fainaru began his career with the San Jose
Mercury News, where he covered sports. He
later worked at the Boston Globe before moving
to the Washington Post. He is the author of two
books, Big Boy Rules: American Mercenaries
Fighting in Iraq (Da Capo, 2008) and The Duke
of Havana: Baseball, Cuba and the Search for the
American Dream (Villard, 2000).

Fainaru wrote Private Armies, a series of
articles about private security contractors, which
was published in The Washington Post.

Soldier of Misfortune
Adapted from "Big Boy Rules: America's
Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq" (Da Capo Press,
2008)

For Missing Guards' Kin, An Agonizing
Conclusion (Post, March 30, 2008, Page A01)

ABDUCTIONS: Authorities Identify Remains Of
Two American Contractors (Post, March 25,
2008, Page A10)

Five Severed Fingers Identified as Belonging To
Guards Held in Iraq: Four Are From Men
Missing 16 Months (Post, March 13, 2008, Page
A12)

Warnings Unheeded On Guards In Iraq: Despite
Shootings, Security Companies Expanded
Presence (Post, December 24, 2007, Page A01)

Iraqis Detail Shooting by Guard Firm: Same
Company Involved In Fatal October Incident
(Post, November 26, 2007, Page A01)

Grand Jury to Probe Shootings by Guards:
Blackwater Among Contractors Facing Scrutiny
(Post, November 20, 2007, Page A10)

How Blackwater Sniper Fire Felled 3 Iraqi
Guards: Witnesses Call Shooting From Justice
Ministry Unprovoked, But State Dept. Cleared
Its Security Team After a Brief Probe (Post,
November 8, 2007, Page A01)

Blackwater Faced Bedlam, Embassy Finds: 'First
Blush' Report Raises New Questions on
Shooting (Post, September 28, 2007, Page A01)

U.S. Repeatedly Rebuffed Iraq on Blackwater
Complaints (Post, September 23, 2007, Page A18)

Where Military Rules Don't Apply : Blackwater's
Security Force in Iraq Given Wide Latitude by
State Dept. (Post, September 20, 2007, Page A01)

Cutting Costs, Bending Rules, And a Trail of
Broken Lives: Ambush in Iraq Last November
Left Four Americans Missing And a String of
Questions About the Firm They Worked For
(Post, July 29, 2007, Page A01)

In Iraq, a Private Realm Of
Intelligence-Gathering: Firm Extends U.S.
Government's Reach (Post, July 1, 2007, Page
A01)

Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War: As
Security Work Increases, So Do Casualties (Post,
June 16, 2007, Page A01)

Contractor Says Army Unfairly Closed Bidding
(Post, June 7, 2007, Page D03)

Judge Halts Award Of Iraq Contract (Post, June
2, 2007, Page D01)

U.S. Security Contractors Open Fire in Baghdad:
Blackwater Employees Were Involved in Two
Shooting Incidents in Past Week (Post, May 27,
2007, Page A01)

Second British Firm Bids for Iraq Security
Contract (Post, May 12, 2007, Page D01)

Firms Protest Exclusion From Iraq Security Bid
(Post, May 5, 2007, Page D01)

Abduction of Americans Reflects Fraying
Security in Iraqi South (Post, November 18,
2006, Page A01)

U.S. Soldier Gets 25 Years In Murder of Iraqi
Guard: Five GIs Killed in Insurgent Attacks
(Post, September 26, 2004, Page A26)

Militants Behead Kurdish Hostages: 2nd Group
Says It Holds Iraqi Guardsmen (Post, September
20, 2004, Page A16)

2 Soldiers Among 21 Killed in Iraq Blasts: New
Video Purports To Show U.S. Hostages (Post,
September 19, 2004, Page A01)
Private Security Contractors
Dangerous Drives “Iraq Convoy”
The SPEEDCHANNEL

Riding with drivers who have some of the most
dangerous jobs in the world.

KBR Convoy Ambush with Preston Wheeler  
The Rough Cut
by:  David Phinney
He should be noted for the many stories he wrote
about American Contractors and (TCN) Third
Country Nations.
He wrote the first story about the "Fog of Wars"
where American Contractors were Jailed by U.S.
Marines in Iraq
The Benefits of Working Overseas as a Contractor-
"Many overseas contracting opportunities can be found now throughout Europe, the Middle East
and Africa. As you might suspect, the competition for those jobs can be intense.

Being the worldly one you are, you also know that a typical day at the office in London, Brussels
or Munich can be significantly different from one in Kabul, Baghdad or Manama. Choose your
OCONUS (Outside the Continental United States) professional poison wisely.

Whether your lust for an overseas job adventure leads towards fish and chips, chocolate and
lederhosen or more in the direction of a highway to any number of danger zones, you’ll find that
working overseas has definite benefits worth packing your bags.

Aside from an intrinsic lust for travel and adventure, there is money, pure and simple. Highly
skilled employees get paid exceptionally well for doing the same job they might have done in the
military for far less. Your payday has come, gentle warrior.

Of course, what you earn in a base pay depends on your qualifications, the job in question and
the employer who hires you.

Some surveys peg-starting salaries for positions in Iraq at $91,000 and $99,000 in Afghanistan. It
is not uncommon to find opportunities paying well over $100,000 in base pay alone.

The buck doesn’t stop at base pay, either, making overseas employment even more enticing.
There can also be a whole host of other monies and benefits involved as well, depending on the
assignment:

  • Hostile fire zone/danger pay
  • Bonus incentives
  • Cost of living allowances
  • Housing allowances
  • Transportation
  • Paid meals
  • Paid vacations, holidays and personal time off
  • Medical/dental for yourself and family members
  • Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
  • 401(k) or similar retirement plans
  • Flexible spending accounts
  • Tuition Reimbursement

There are also potential tax benefits to working overseas in the form of what the IRS calls Foreign
Earned Income. In 2010, up to $91,500 of one’s salary was tax-free. Additionally, housing expenses
or a portion of them might also be exempt from federal taxes. For more information, visit the IRS
on line or hire yourself a good CPA. "
written by: Janet Farley
ClaranceJobs.Com
HISTORY
THE LATEST NEWS LIVE FROM THE FRONT
LINE
American Contractor.Com
A.C. is a U.S. Army as a Senior Weapons Sergeant
with the 5th Special Forces Group, FT. Campbell,
KY.  As a former Green Beret he served honorably
and is also a Gulf War veteran.  In 2003 he
became a civilian contractor and still is abroad.  
Companies Expanding Overseas Create U.S. Jobs, Study Says-
When companies trade or invest overseas, it fuels hiring and investment in the U.S., the Business
Roundtable and the United States Council for International Business said in the study released
today. The groups suggest that U.S. policies and trade agreements be flexible to accommodate
opportunities for companies to generate business, products or customers abroad.
By Elizabeth Dexheimer - Dec 4, 2012

KBR selected to Provide Construction Management Services – Abu Dhabi-
KBR will be responsible for managing various contractors’ costs, schedules, quality, contract
administration and risks. The scope of the utilities work includes over 60 miles of gravity storm
and sanitary sewer, potable water, chill water and fire water piping and over 25 miles of power
and telecommunication duct banks, a Central Utility Plant, a highway interchange, airside and
landside roads, cooling stations and standby power generation for a new Midfield Terminal and
other airport commercial users
Contractors Overseas get $95,100 Tax Free in 2012- "The U.S. has tax treaties with many
countries, which allows the federal government to exchange data on its citizens living in other
countries for tax purposes. Most importantly, if you do not file a tax return for a given tax year,
the statute of limitations on that year never runs out.

If you are a U.S. citizen or a resident alien of the United States and you live or work abroad, you
are taxed on your worldwide income. However, you may qualify to exclude from income up to an
amount of your foreign earnings that is now adjusted for inflation $91,400 for 2009, $91,500 for
2010, $92,900 for 2011, $95,100 for 2012 and $97,600 for tax year 2013.

In addition, you can exclude or deduct certain foreign housing amounts according to www.irs.gov.
You may also be entitled to exclude from income the value of meals and lodging provided to you
by your employer. Refer to Exclusion of Meals and Lodging in Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S.
Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad, and Publication 15-B, Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe
Benefits for more information.

In 2013, Various Tax Benefits Increase Due to Inflation Adjustments such as:
◦The annual exclusion for gifts rises to $14,000 for 2013, up from $13,000 for 2012.
Your-POC.com
February 5, 2013
USE COMMON SENSE -  
Truck drivers / Employee's for
KBR and All other companies,
highly included are security
are forbidden to speak to
reporters while in Iraq.
The electronic message to KBR
truckers reinforces that policy.  
This will get you fired and/ or
later it can hurt and delay any  
medical / disability claim you
might have.  
Don't forget to listen to the PTSD Song
"Talking Blues"
PBS Frontline -High Risk Contracting Business
The notorious killings of four Blackwater security contractors in Fallujah in March 2004 and the news
coverage about their lives offered a glimpse into the world of the people attracted to this work. Their
deaths also triggered growing concerns about the regulation and accountability of private security
contracting firms. UPDATE: In late September 2006, the U.S. Army said Blackwater wasn't authorized
to guard convoys or carry weapons (read more in this Charlotte News & Observer article).
Congressional observers predict that if the Democrats win the House and/or Senate in November,
private contractors like Blackwater will be a focus in new hearings on the war in Iraq.

On March 31, 2004, four men working for Blackwater USA as security guards -- Scott Helvenston, Wesley Batalona, Jerry
Zovko and Michael Teague -- were ambushed by insurgents in Fallujah. They were killed, their bodies burned and
mutilated, and two were strung up on a bridge over the Euphrates. The insurgents made their own video of the attack,
broadcasting the images around the world.
+ Aegis Iraq PSD Teams
This site states it "does not belong to AEGIS DEFENSE LTD, it belongs to the men on the ground
who are the heart and soul of the company." UPDATE: The site drew media attention when it
briefly hosted a video clip, set to music, that appeared to show a private security convoy shooting
freely at Iraqi civilian vehicles as it traveled along Iraq's roads. The clip is no longer on the site but
can be viewed here. London's Sunday Telegraph wrote about the video and Aegis subsequently
released a statement saying it had established a "formal board of enquiry, in cooperation with the
U.S. military authorities, to investigate whether the footage has any connection with the company,
and should this prove to be the case, under what circumstances any incident took place." In April
2006 AEGIS announced both investigations had concluded the footage was recorded during
legitimate operations, no rules of engagement were violated, and the film had been taken out of
context and therefore was misleading.
There's other video on the Aegis site: "Short Contact on Irish rear gunner reacts" appears to show
gunfire directed at a vehicle on Route Irish, the road to the airport; "VBIED at Check Point" shows
a car bomb at a security checkpoint. The site also has photos and training information.



MUSIC- by Civilian Contractor
Tommy Reddick, a private military contractor who served four tours in Iraq working outside the
wire, shares how Red Wing Boots are the best shoes for men who do real work.
IN THE NEWS
A contractor’s dream come true, Redneck Girls & Cowboys is a musical experience bathed in blood,
sweat and tears… literally. It’s not hard to miss how the humorous content dispersed throughout
was an escape to better, lighter times. Its beginnings are extraordinary, for each song was written
by Tommy while serving his tours in Iraq, outside the wire, traveling from base to base. When an
idea for a song was had, he would call from Iraq to his home in Florida and sing the lyrics over his
answering machine. Over 30-40 messages were left to himself containing snippets of verses,
choruses and phrases. He didn’t want to miss or lose a single idea. The title cut from the album,
Redneck Girls & Cowboys was written while waiting to enter the military base, Camp Liberty.
Shortly before crossing the line, an IED was spotted and EOD was summoned to explode and
remove the daisy chain of IEDs. While in his vehicle Tommy made use of the down time by writing
the song ideas on whatever “materials” he could find in his military vehicle.

Once back in Nashville, it was those answering machine audio recordings, scraps of paper and
materials that guided musicians and background vocalists during the tracking session. Tommy
would have them wait while he called up his answering machine via speaker phone. All the
musicians and producers would circle around it and listen to the messages no less than 20-40
times in order to write the musical charts for the tracking session.

To say the creation of this album was an easy task is an understatement. It is however a testament
to the old saying, where there’s a will, there’s a way.



Defense and Strategic Studies  DS 345:
Military Innovation: Theory and Practice in Modern Warfare
Military innovations have had a profound effect on the outcome of modern war.  Victory or defeat
on the battlefield has often times been determined by a military’s success or failure at innovation
either during interwar periods or during times of war.  This interdisciplinary course examines the
subject of military innovation or transformation from a theoretical, historical and policy oriented
perspective.  Using the U.S. Army in the 20th century as the primary object of inquiry, the course
addresses several key questions: Why do militaries innovate?  How does this process of innovation
occur?  Why do attempts at military innovation succeed or fail?  Lastly, how should the U.S. Army
transform to meet the demands of the current international security environment?  


Post-traumatic stress and the hired gun BBC NEWS SCOTTLAND2012
Former SAS soldier Bob Paxman - who served in Iraq as well as other hostile environments - is one
of a growing number of former servicemen who say they have suffered with the mental health
condition Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  After a number of years in the military, Paxman
retrained as a private security contractor, on protection contracts in Africa and Iraq. He says as a
result of being constantly in a dangerous environment and witnessing colleagues being killed and
maimed he was diagnosed with PTSD.  The stress disorder is thought to affect up to 20% of
military personnel who have served in conflict zones, according to research published by the
National Center for PTSD in the US. What is not known is the impact among those who work in
the armed private security sector, many of whom are drawn from the military.




UPDATE-  Judge throws out Defense Base Act Class Action Lawsuit
Brink vs XE Holding LLC - Defense Base Act Class Action Suit



Defense Base Act Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed
January 2nd, 2013 | Author: Jon Robinson
A friend of the blog mentioned that I should have included one additional case, Brink v. XE
Holding, LLC, in the Top 5 list.  I think he was right.

Thirty-one contractor employees  brought a purported class action against their employers and
their employer’s insurers, alleging inter alia violations of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’
Compensation Act (“LHWCA”), the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”),  
and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) because of the employers’ and carriers’ handling of
the contractor employees’ claims for Defense Base Act (“DBA”) benefits.  The United States District
Court for the District of Columbia reviewed a collection of Motions to Dismiss and, upon
consideration of the Motions, the court dismissed all of the employees’ claims.

Here, the Plaintiffs purported to bring their class action lawsuit “on behalf of more than 10,000
similarly situated individuals who were denied benefits under the DBA.”  The two hundred page
Complaint alleged everything from failing or refusing to provide medical benefits to delaying
compensation payments to making false statements about the payment of benefits to even
threatening workers for making DBA claims.

In its Order dismissing the claims, the court began by discussing the exclusivity of the DBA and the
LHWCA.  The D.C. Circuit (like other federal circuits) has long held that the LHWCA is an
exclusive scheme for compensating employees.  It has refused to recognize a cause of action “when
the employer refuses to make timely compensation payments with an intent to injure” because
that cause of action falls within the LHWCA’s exclusivity provision.  Hall v. C & P Tel. Co., 809 F.
2d 924, 926 (D.C. Cir. 1987).  Further, the LHWCA precludes state tort claims alleging false
statements or false representations for the purpose of reducing, denying or terminating a claimant’
s benefits.  Section 31(c) of the LHWCA establishes an employer’s exclusive liability for such alleged
conduct.

The Plaintiffs could not escape the exclusivity provisions of the LHWCA and DBA.  Their
complaints focused on the employers and carriers alleged failure to make DBA indemnity and
medical benefits payments, and thus they were barred:

As Plaintiffs reaffirm in their own Opposition briefs, the crux of their Complaint is that
“Defendants’ failure to make the proper compensation payment resulted in the infliction of harm
on Plaintiffs, which Defendants could have reasonably anticipated….  Defendants’ delay,
termination and/or minimization of compensation have aggravated Plaintiffs’ injuries.”  …  
Plaintiffs claims that Defendants, in conspiracy with each other, refused to pay for Plaintiffs’
medical benefits, terminated their medical benefits, repeatedly lied and made misrepresentations
to DOL regarding payments for medical treatments, wrongfully terminated certain Plaintiffs, and
provided inadequate care.  …  Although Plaintiffs allege that these actions exacerbated their
underlying employment-related injuries and/or that the claims process itself caused them undue
stress and financial hardship, it is clear that Plaintiffs’ state law causes of action all arise out of
their underlying claims to DBA benefits and thus are barred by the exclusive scheme set forth in
the DBA and LHWCA.

The Plaintiffs likewise stumbled over their RICO and ADA hurdles.  When a federal enabling
statute provides an exclusive remedy (like the LHWCA and DBA), RICO actions are barred.  Here,
the Plaintiffs claim that the Defendants conspired to “[make] misrepresent[ations] to injured
parties and the DOL and commit crimes under the DBA by denying claims using fraud….”  But
Section 31(c) of the LHWCA already provides criminal penalties for the same conduct.  The same is
true for the Plaintiffs’ mail and wire fraud claims: Section 14 of the LHWCA has a comprehensive
system of financial penalties.   Therefore, because the LHWCA and DBA already provide remedies
for the alleged wrong, the Plaintiffs could not maintain their RICO claims.

Finally, Plaintiffs did not state the essential elements of either a failure to accommodate or a
disability discrimination under the ADA.  To establish a prima facie case of unlawful discrimination
based on a failure to accommodate under the ADA, a plaintiff must show that: (1) he is a qualified
individual with a disability within the meaning of the ADA; (2) that the employer had notice of his
disability; (3) there was some reasonable accommodation denied to him; and (4) such
accommodation would have enabled him to perform the essential functions of this job.  Here, the
Plaintiffs made “only conclusory allegations” regarding their status as qualified individuals, and
they failed to allege that they requested job accommodations which their employer denied.

Brink v.  XE Holding, LLC, — F.Supp.2d —-, No. 11-1733, slip op. (D.D.C. Dec. 21, 2012
More than 500,000 “Gulf War Era” vets currently receive
disability compensation, many of them for a variety of
symptoms generally referred to as Gulf War Syndrome.
Experts blame DU for many of these symptoms.

“The numbers are overwhelming, but the potential horrors
only get worse,” Robert C. Koehler of the Chicago-based
Tribune Media Services wrote in an article about DU
weapons entitled “Silent Genocide.”

“DU dust does more than wreak havoc on the immune
systems of those who breathe it or touch it; the substance
also alters one’s genetic code,” Koehler wrote. “The
Pentagon’s response to such charges is denial, denial, denial.
And the American media is its moral co-conspirator.”

“Exposure pathways for depleted uranium can be through
the skin, by inhalation, and ingestion,” Moret wrote. “Nano-
particles have high mobility and can easily enter the body.
Inhalation of nano-particles of depleted uranium is the most
hazardous exposure, because the particles pass through the
lung-blood barrier directly into the blood.

“When inhaled through the nose, nano-particles can cross
the olfactory bulb directly into the brain through the blood
brain barrier, where they migrate all through the brain,” she
wrote. “Many Gulf era soldiers exposed to depleted uranium
have been diagnosed with brain tumors, brain damage and
impaired thought processes. Uranium can interfere with the
mitochondria, which provide energy for the nerve processes,
and transmittal of the nerve signal across synapses in the
brain.

“Damage to the mitochondria, which provide all energy to
the cells and nerves, can cause chronic fatigue syndrome,
Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Hodgkin’s
disease.”
The Responsibility of the US in
Contaminating Iraq with Depleted Uranium
2009 by Global Research

Depleted Uranium (DU) is a radioactive and
chemically toxic heavy metal. If ingested,
inhaled, or it enters the human body
through wounds or skin, it remains there for
decades.

Within the human body the (DU) particles
would be a continuous source for emitting
alpha particles. With its toxic effects,
published research & epidemiological
studies have proved that it causes serious
health damages to the human body. Some
of the damage to the human body is to
lymph tissue, kidneys, developing fetuses,
neurological system, the bones, lung
fibrosis, and an increase in the risk of many
types of cancer and malignancies.

Hundreds of tons of (DU) expenditure have
been fired & exploded on Iraqi highly
populated areas like Basrah, Baghdad,
Nasriya, Dewania, Samawa, and other cities.
At least 350 sites in Iraq are known to be
contaminated with (DU)”. Iraq is facing a
tremendous number of cancer cases. The facts
and scientific evidences regarding the intentional
use of the USA and UK administrations of
depleted uranium weapons against the people
and environment of Iraq, in addition to the
health consequences that have been result from
them.

These Sand Storms can stir up Uranium Dust, watch
the video I made back in 2005 for a look at one of
Iraq's huge Sand storm that Blacked out U.S. Military
base where American Civilian Contractors lived and
worked in Support of our Troops.
Depleted Uranium From Dust Storms
Depleted uranium has a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years.
Tackling the crisis of toxic dust particles entering Iran from Iraq Watch Video

Delegates of Iraq’s Ministry of Environment are in Tehran meeting with Iran’s Environmental Protection Agency.
The aim of this meeting is to discuss dust particles that carry toxic depleted uranium are finding their way into
southwestern Iran from neighboring Iraq. US and British bombs filled with depleted uranium used against Iraqis
almost a decade ago are now beginning to show their harmful effects on the health of Iranians. The advisor to Iraq’
s Ministry of Environment discussed upcoming projects designed to tackle this issue.

Depleted uranium from dust storms are mainly seen in the southwestern provinces of Khusestan, Ilam and
Lorestan. The use of DU in munitions causes long-term health effects such to the kidney, brain, liver, heart, and
numerous other systems. Increased rates of immune system disorders and other wide-ranging symptoms, including
chronic pain, fatigue and memory loss, have been also been reported as detrimental effects of DU radiation. The
director of Iran’s Environmental Protection Agency discussed ways in which Iran has offered to assist in this matter.

Today reports show the number of children with birth defects born in the southern city of Ahwaz has increased due
to mothers' inhalation of air contaminated with depleted uranium, used in U-S and British-made weapons. The
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has also offered to assist both countries.
GAO QUESTIONS MONITORING IN IRAQ;
SOIL QUALITY AN ISSUE SINCE 1991 WAR

The investigative arm of Congress says the
Department of Defense is not adequately
monitoring the quality the soil in Iraq to
determine whether U.S. service members
fighting there are being exposed to hazardous
materials.
The monitoring is considered crucial, according
to the U.S. General Accountability Office, in
light of the illnesses experienced by hundreds of
thousands of veterans of the first Persian Gulf
War in 1991, and similar illnesses among
thousands of service members who have been in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
01/31/2013
(U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers'
Compensation Programs)

US Department of Labor reaches
settlement with contractor on failure
to report injuries and fatalities under
Defense Base Act

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of
Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation
Programs today announced a $75,000 settlement
with in a timely manner on the injuries and
deaths of 30 employees in Iraq between 2003 and
2005.

Under the Defense Base Act, a company must
report any injury or death to OWCP's Division of
Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation
within 10 days, and any knowing and willful
failure to report subjects the employer to a civil
penalty. In the settlement, The Sandi Group
agreed not only to pay the $75,000 fine but that
future violations would result in greater penalties.

"Timely reporting of work-related injuries,
illnesses and fatalities are vitally important to
protect the interests of injured workers and their
families," said Gary A. Steinberg, acting director
of OWCP. "In the case of injuries and illnesses,
this enables timely medical treatment, payment
of compensation benefits and, when possible,
return to work, and for fatalities, timely issuance
of death benefits for eligible survivors. The Labor
Department is committed to administering the
provisions of the Defense Base Act, which provide
necessary medical care and compensation
benefits that hold workers and families together
during moments of hardship."

The Sandi Group, a Washington, D.C.-based
company, employed workers that provided
security and other services in support of U.S.
operations in Iraq.

The Defense Base Act provides workers'
compensation protection to civilian employees
working outside the United States on U.S.
military bases or under a contract with the U.S.
government for public work or for national
defense. For more information, visit http://www.
dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lsdba.htm.

The mission of OWCP's Division of Longshore
and Harbor Workers' Compensation is to
minimize the impact of employment-related
injuries, illnesses and deaths on employees and
their families by ensuring that workers'
compensation benefits are provided promptly
and properly under the Longshore and Harbor
Workers' Compensation Act, the Defense Base
Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and
the Non-appropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act.
For more information,
visit http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/index.htm.
American Contractors in Iraq Tribute Video
Cancer Epidemic Caused by U.S. WMD;  M.D. Says Depleted Uranium Definitively Linked
In Afghanistan, the lines between Taliban finance and legitimate commerce are often blurred.
dealers suspected of secretly funding the insurgency. Photos by Ahmad Nadeem and Mohammad
Ismail.
Foreign
correspondent
traveled to Iraq 11
traveled to Iraq 11
times since the
war began in
2003.  
His latest book is
Big Boy Rules.
Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq.  The Iraq Index is a statistical compilation of economic, public opinion, and security
data. This resource will provide updated information on various criteria, including crime, telephone and water service, troop fatalities unemployment, Iraqi
security forces, oil production, and coalition troop strength. The index is designed to quantify the rebuilding efforts and offer an objective set of criteria for
benchmarking performance. It is the first in-depth, non-partisan assessment of American efforts in Iraq, and is based primarily on U.S. government information.
Although measurements of progress in any nation-building effort can never be reduced to purely quantitative data, a comprehensive compilation of such
information can provide a clearer picture and contribute to a healthier and better informed debate.
The Civilian Contractor

I'm a civilian contractor, not a soldier.
You see, that's the only difference between you
and me.  Like you, I volunteered and like you, I
have some fear.  
I go with you standing tall and praying we don't
fall.  You carry weapons of all shapes and sizes and
I carry the hope of avoiding our demise.
You've done well, you scored one today and they
tell me your medals are on the way.  I get no
medals, promotions or awards. Doesn't matter, I
must go forward.  Newsweek and Time write about
you often, the contractor mostly forgotten.  You
tell you story, your loved ones can hear.  I have
been cautioned to keep quiet my job to fear.
No one knows us, we're just there, hurting
bleeding and dying.  Doesn't matter, we're just
contractors.
DEFENSE BASE ACT NEWS

Windfalls of War

After a decade of war, the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News took an in-depth look at the
billions of dollars spent on military contracts that are not competitively bid. Call it “one-stop
shopping.” These contracts have tripled in size since 9/11, to $140 billion. Who loses? The taxpayer.  

Over a decade of war the Pentagon has awarded lucrative military contracts without competition, and
the amount has increased from $50 billion in 2001 to $140 billion in 2010.

Windfalls of war: KBR, the government's concierge
KBR, formerly Kellogg, Brown and Root, won the first "concierge" contract for an array of services in
Iraq and Afghanistan and parlayed it into a sole-source $37 billion bonanza.
KBR's umbrella contract to provide everything from showers to rebuilding airfields tops $37
billion. "It's like a gigantic monopoly," says one critic.
The rush to war in the months following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 created an urgency in the
Pentagon, not just for military operations but also for contracting.

When U.S. forces moved into Afghanistan in 2001, there was little, if any, infrastructure to support
and house U.S. troops. The military needed someone to do everything from housing troops to
rebuilding airfields. The solution was a contract called the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or
LOGCAP, a type of umbrella contract the Army had been using to support is military bases overseas.
In late 2001, the Army, after a competition, awarded LOGCAP III to KBR. The Houston-based firm,
once a subsidiary of Halliburton, began providing everything from showers to dining halls.

Even beyond single-source contracts, the Pentagon has other types of contracts it can use to quickly
award work without having to compete specific jobs. They include umbrella-type contracts, like
LOGCAP, that allow the government to buy unspecified goods and services over long periods of time.
“It’s the government’s way of saying ‘We don’t know what we want, and we don’t know how much it
costs,’” said Laura Peterson, a senior policy analyst with Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog
group. “Instead they say, ‘we’ll put you on retainer and tell you later what we want and when we want
it, and you just bill us.’ You become the government’s concierge, and it’s like a gigantic monopoly.”

Indeed, that’s the way LOGCAP III  operated for almost a decade. And while KBR was competitively
awarded the umbrella contract in December 2001, it didn’t have to compete for any of the subsequent
work, which totaled over $37 billion by the end of July this year. For the next 10 years, the company
provided water systems, heaters, tents, and dining facilities. The company also provided electricians,
cooks and cleaners and other civilian workers needed to run military bases.

When the U.S. went to war in Iraq in 2003, KBR came along  too, eventually providing modern dining
facilities for  military and State Department personnel, featuring everything from made-to-order
Caesar salads to a dessert station featuring over a dozen types of pie and cakes. Though costs were
supposed to be limited to $20 a person per day, a State Department Inspector General investigation
found personnel were being encouraged to scan their attendance at meals and snacks as many times
as possible. A notice in an embassy newsletter read, “more scans = more goodies,” and the Inspector
General found people were scanning multiple times, which hid the true cost of the meals. “One
person scanned his card 25 times in two days,” the report states. A later Defense Contract Audit
Agency report confirmed those findings, saying that headcount inflation could be as high as 36
percent.

As LOGCAP expanded in Iraq, adding more and more work, KBR came under increasing scrutiny,
particularly when the Army tried to extend the contract into new areas. In 2003, the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, at the direction of the Pentagon, was preparing to issue KBR a sole-source award, known
as the Restore Iraqi Oil, or RIO contract, based on urgent need, over the objections of Bunnatine
Greenhouse.

As the senior contracting official at the Army Corp of Engineers, Greenhouse questioned the selection
of KBR as a the only qualified company, and raised a number of concerns about the justification for
the sole-source ward, ranging from nonexistent cost estimates to the lack of reasonable justification
for granting a sole-source contract for more than one year. "The fact that it was a no-bid, sole source
contract meant that the government was placing KBR in the position of being able to define what the
reasonable costs would be to execute the RIO contract and then charging the government what it
defined as being reasonable,” she testified in 2005 to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.  In
addition, a Defense Contract Audit Agency audit found the company had overcharged the RIO
contract by $61 million.

Greenhouse maintains the Army retaliated against her for voicing her concerns on the sole-source
contract and then later making statements to Congress criticizing the deal; she was eventually
stripped of her high-level position and her security clearance. Greenhouse sued the government, and
the National Whistleblowers Center announced in July 2011 that the U.S. government had agreed to
pay Greenhouse $970,000 to settle her claims.

Despite Greenhouse’s allegations, and a series of audit reports criticizing the contingency contract,  
Army officials continued to deny that there was anything improper with the decision to sole-source
the oil contract to KBR.

In the meantime, as LOGCAP grew, the problems became hard to ignore. Pentagon audits and
government reports accused KBR of overbilling. At one Wartime Contracting Commission hearing,
April Stephenson, then head of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, confirmed that the LOGCAP III
contract had generated $553 million in questionable billing and 32fraud referrals for investigation. “I
have to say in the history of DCAA I do not think we are aware of a program, a contract or a
contractor that has had this number of suspensions or referrals,” she testified.

Some criminal charges have already resulted regarding the LOGCAP contract, including a former
employee who pleaded guilty to receiving kickbacks on a subcontract to a Kuwaiti company.

The U.S. government is also now in the middle of a $100 million lawsuit against KBR, alleging breach
of contract and false claims related to providing private security under the LOGCAP contract. A
federal judge in August rejected the company’s bid to have the suit thrown out.

KBR issued a statement Tuesday saying, "We conduct our business with integrity, transparency,
accountability, and discipline.  When we have identified potential issues, we have reported them to
our clients and the appropriate agencies as required, and have fully cooperated with those agencies to
investigate and address each issue. While we do not agree with some allegations raised by the
goverment, we have initiated efforts to revolve these issues."

Facing mounting criticism of the LOGCAP contract, the Army eventually held a new LOGCAP
competition, and in 2007 awarded contracts to three companies — KBR, DynCorp, and Fluor
Corporation — under what was called LOGCAP IV. Unlike the previous LOGCAP III, the three
companies under LOGCAP IV would compete for individual task orders, creating an incentive for
lower price and better services, and quelling the major criticism of the previous contract structure.

In 2010, however, the Army announced that rather than moving to the competitively awarded
LOGCAP IV for base services, it would extend the LOGCAP III for work in Iraq. "Theater commanders
have raised concerns that a transition from LOGCAP III to LOGCAP IV would strain logistics and
transportation assets in Iraq at the same time that a massive withdrawal of U.S. forces, weapons and
equipment is under way,” according to an Army release about the decision.

As of July 2011, just $5.7 billion had been spent on LOGCAP IV, compared to over $37 billion on
LOGCAP III.

LOGCAP may have been the largest of the limited competition wartime services contracts, but it was
by no means the only one. Another contract that drew criticism was a five-year contract to Supreme
Services to deliver food supplies to Afghanistan. That contract, awarded in 2004, was already worth
over $5 billion when the Defense Logistics Agency chose to extend it in 2010, without competition, for
another two years and an additional $4 billion. A DOD Inspector General investigation released
shortly after the extension found numerous lapses of oversight of the contract.

Among other problems, the Inspector General determined the company had overbilled the Army, and
identified potential overpayments totaling nearly $100 million for transportation costs to Afghanistan,
and another $26 million in overpayments related to shipping perishables. The report also found the
Army had paid a staggering $455 million for transporting fresh fruits and vegetables to Afghanistan
from the United Arab Emirates without ever determining whether the prices were “fair and
reasonable.” The transportation rate, it turns out, had been the same rate negotiated with a prior
vendor, a Kuwaiti company which was subsequently indicted by the Department of Justice on criminal
charges.

Such contracts, like LOGCAP, which are counted as “competitive” in database figures, likely hide a
much worse picture, according to Charles Tiefer, a member of the Wartime Contracting Commission.
KBR did win the initial contract competitively, he said, but “for the next 10 years there were task
orders without further competition that went to KBR.”

Tiefer said that during commission hearings, it came out that contracts that use indefinite delivery,
indefinite quantity task orders, like LOGCAP, were counted as “competitive” in federal data figures,
even though subsequent work under it wasn’t competed — over $30 billion in the case of LOGCAP III.

“It’s not at all an obscure example,” he said. “It shows that the rate of real competition may be less
than the claimed rate of competition.”

Next: Pentagon spends millions of US tax dollars on Russian-made helicopters to outfit Iraqi and
Afghan militaries
Uncovering Waste, Fraud and Abuse since 2004
Burn Pits Documents (MDL 98) Order on Motion to Dismiss (00134597)

Update: By Mike Francis, The Oregonian
March 18, 2013
Government says KBR failed to make valid claim, asks judge to dismiss
contractor's case


KBR's alleged rape victim charged almost 150K- 19 yr old Whistleblower
Following the end of the initial trial in July of this year, KBR responded
by asking Jones to cover their $2 million bill for legal fees. They believed
that Jones’ allegations were fabricated and as a result she should have to
take care of their costs.
While this week’s ruling means Jones won’t have to shell out the
millions to pay back KBR’s legal team, a judge has determined that she
will have to compensate the company for other related court costs,
including nearly $60,000 in transcript fees, almost $14,000 in printing
costs and other bills related to the trial.
"Because the KBR defendants' costs fall within the recoverable costs
enumerated in (statute), the court finds that KBR's application for costs
must be granted," ruled US District Judge Keith Ellison from a Texas
court house this week.
“The fact that Jones presented prima facie claims of sexual harassment
and hostile work environment highlights the impropriety of an award of
attorneys’ fees in this case,” added Ellison.

Tags
Corruption, Crime, Culture, History, Iraq, Law, Military, Scandal, Sex,
USA

Jamie Leigh Jones has said for years that her co-workers at contractors
KBR gang-raped her and held her hostage while on the job in Iraq in
2005. Six years later, not only has a jury sided with KBR, but now Jones
is stuck footing their $145,000 bill.

Jones was seeking $145 million in damages from KBR, who was owned by
Halliburton during the time of the 2005 incident. She has long alleged
that she was drugged and raped in her barracks at the Camp Hope
compound in Baghdad only to be locked into a shipping container for 24
hours after without food, water or medical treatment.

Despite a physician’s confirmation that Jones was beaten and bloodied
after the incident, a jury ruled in July that they did not have enough
evidence to prosecute KBR or the named assailant, Charles Bortz, and
ruled that any sexual encounter between the two parties was consensual.

Earlier this week, a federal judge added insult to injury by insisting that
Jones foot the bill for the military contractors’ $145,073.19 in court costs,
reports the Houston Chronicle.

Following the end of the initial trial in July of this year, KBR responded
by asking Jones to cover their $2 million bill for legal fees. They believed
that Jones’ allegations were fabricated and as a result she should have to
take care of their costs.

While this week’s ruling means Jones won’t have to shell out the
millions to pay back KBR’s legal team, a judge has determined that she
will have to compensate the company for other related court costs,
including nearly $60,000 in transcript fees, almost $14,000 in printing
costs and other bills related to the trial.

"Because the KBR defendants' costs fall within the recoverable costs
enumerated in (statute), the court finds that KBR's application for costs
must be granted," ruled US District Judge Keith Ellison from a Texas
court house this week.

“The fact that Jones presented prima facie claims of sexual harassment
and hostile work environment highlights the impropriety of an award of
attorneys’ fees in this case,” added Ellison.

After the alleged incident, Jones says that her breast implants were
ruptured. She sought medical attention and was administered a rape kit,
though the results mysteriously disappeared for two years. Once
recovered, crucial information was missing.

Following this week’s decision, Jones’ attorney Todd Kell tells the Law
Blog, “Jamie, you remain a hero in my eyes.I am humbled that you
chose me to stand for you.I am sorry that we did not walk out of that
courtroom with justice, but I am proud to have stood by your side
fighting for it for five long years.”

Earlier this year, KBR was voted one of the 50 top companies for women
by the readers of the magazine Woman Engineer. In 2009, their revenue
was over $12 billion.

Recommended

Alex Jones: 'The UN is hopelessly corrupt' 10.DA causing rape hysteria
with witch hunt in Maine 9.Alleged rape victim sued by Iraqi contractor

americancontractorsiniraq.blogspot.com/ has moved to new address.