Fred Pleitgen – (NECN/CNN) – January 24, 2012 – It’s getting harder for private security contractors to do business in Iraq.
Government officials say the contractors simply have to follow the requirements for any foreigners.
Sign suggestion for U.S. Dept. of State
The U.S. Embassy is aware of cases where discrepancies in permits or paperwork have resulted in legal action, including detention, by Iraqi police and other entities. Detentions often last 24-96 hours or more. The Embassy’s ability to respond to situations in which U.S. citizens are arrested or otherwise detained throughout Iraq is limited, including in and around Baghdad. Please refer to the current Travel Warning for further information about limitations, as well as information about the security situation.
~ U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq
U.S. Embassy workers detained in Baghdad
Dan Morse – (Washington Post) – BAGHDAD – January 12, 2012 – Four U.S. Embassy workers driving through Baghdad were stopped and detained by Iraqi security forces for two hours Thursday, a day after the embassy warned that some American citizens working here had been held for days over “discrepancies in permits and paperwork.”
AHMAD MASSIEH NESHAD – (Associated Press) – KABUL, Afghanistan – January 5, 2011 – Afghan police arrested two British private security contractors and two Afghan colleagues and ordered their company closed down after finding a cache of weapons in their vehicle, an official said Thursday. They are being held for investigation into illegal arms transport.
Their detention spells the latest trouble for Afghanistan’s dozens of private security companies that guard supply convoys, development projects and private businesses. President Hamid Karzai has ordered all the protection companies shut down by March, to be replaced by a unified government-run protection force.
Police who stopped the contractors’ vehicle at a Kabul checkpoint Tuesday found more than two dozen AK-47 rifles in a metal box covered by a blanket, Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqi told a press briefing.
Ryan Abbott – (Courthouse News) – WASHINGTON – December 8, 2011 – In a federal class action, 28 firefighters say Wackenhut, KBR and Halliburton forced them to work around the clock in Afghanistan and Iraq but paid them for only half their time, and responded to requests for fair pay with “shorthand threats to fire” them, such as “‘chicken or beef,’ which referred to the dining choices one had on the flight home from Iraq.”
The firefighters sued the contractors for fraud, conspiracy and breach of contract.
“This complaint alleges actions and omissions of defendants, in conspiracy with each other, and individually, done to defeat the right of American citizens to receive their lawful wages required by government contracts – including in-country pay, danger pay, on-call pay, up-lift pay, overtime, and other benefits and compensation,” the complaint states.
(Read the rest of the story here…)
In a recent article published by to DangerZoneJobs.com, the foremost authority on overseas contract employment, it was reported there were over 179,000 civilian DoD contractor personnel deployed in Iraq (Operation New Dawn (OND), Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).
As you can see the contractor numbers are down significantly from the 250,335 reported in Iraq and Afghanistan in March 2010. (Read the rest of the story here…)
Lucas "Trent" Vinson
Soldier court-martialed in man’s killing in Iraq
The trial for Spc. Beyshee Velez will likely take place this summer
By Gregg K. Kakesako-Star Bulletin
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 13, 2010
A 31-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier will face a general court-martial, probably this summer, for allegedly killing a civilian contractor after a daylong standoff at a military base in Iraq last year.
In one of his first actions since assuming command of the 25th Infantry Division last month, Maj. Gen. Bernard Champoux ordered this week that Spc. Beyshee Velez, a combat medic who has served three tours in Iraq, face a court-martial for the death of Lucas T. Vinson, an employee of Houston-based KBR, near Tikrit on Sept. 13. KBR provides services including housing, meals, mail delivery and laundry. (Read the rest of the story here…)
T Miller brings to light yet another Injured War Zone Contractor who is about to become homeless due to the unwarranted denial of Defense Base Act insurance benefits by AIG. Bill Carlisle has worked hard his whole life and was working hard when he was injured. Thanks to AIG and the fact no one in Congress or the DoL seems to give a damn, Bill’s home in foreclosure with a sale date within the month.
So what if he eventually gets the payments he is already supposed to be getting? His credit is ruined and he won’t be able to buy another home. He’s just another KBR AIG DBA casualty. AIG and CNA are ruining one life right after another.
Why is the Taxpayer paying for these benefits?
In recent years, the Pentagon has come to increasingly rely on private military contractors to do the work that members of the military used to do. But as the number of civilian contractors has grown, so too has the number of deaths and injuries of those contractors and with it, the cost of paying health care benefits for their injury claims.
T. Christian Miller [1] recently won the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting [2] for his coverage of the numerous obstacles contractors face [3] when they’ve been injured and try to collect benefits. We spoke to him about who is responsible for taking care of injured contractors, the ordeal they have to go through to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the role AIG plays in this, contractor suicide rates and how Congress is addressing the problem.
We also hear from one of the people facing the difficulties Miller has documented. Bill Carlisle Jr. was a contractor with defense firm KBR. He sustained both physical and psychological injuries, and is now fighting insurer AIG for the benefits he says they owe him. (Read the rest of the story here…)
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