U.S. taxpayers financed human trafficking, report says.

[Swede]

Yet this year's report includes a special section on reforms the Defense Department instituted after an investigation prompted by "Pipeline to Peril," a series published by the Chicago Tribune in October that detailed human trafficking into Iraq for privatized U.S. military support operations.

Human brokers and subcontractors from Asia to the Middle East have worked in concert to import thousands of laborers into Iraq from impoverished countries, often employing fraud or coercion along the way, seizing workers' passports and charging recruitment "fees" that make it difficult for workers to escape employment in the war zone.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14747951.htm

[Mnemosyne]

1. More:

This year's Trafficking in Persons Report, released Monday, also ranks Iran among the 12 nations in the world with the worst records for limiting human trafficking within and across its borders, just as the Bush administration is attempting to bring pressure on Tehran because of its developing nuclear program.

snip>

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice unveiled this year's report by telling reporters that the United States and its allies "will stop at nothing to end the debasement of our fellow men and women."



Rice released the report and Iran listed as one of the worst. Hmm.

Nothing suspicious there I see.

Thanks Swede.

[undergroundpanther]

2. This has been reported before..

by Cam Simpson, Chicago Tribune

April 23, 2006

The top U.S. commander in Iraq has ordered sweeping changes for privatized military support operations after confirming violations of human-trafficking laws and other abuses by contractors involving possibly thousands of foreign workers on American bases, according to records obtained by the Chicago Tribune.



http://www.unknownnews.org/0604250423slavesinIraq.html


A proposal prohibiting defense contractor involvement in human trafficking for forced prostitution and labor was drafted by the Pentagon last summer, but five defense lobbying groups oppose key provisions and a final policy still appears to be months away.


This was reported back in 2005 too..
US: Pentagon Stalls on Banning Contractors from Using Forced Labor

by Cam Simpson, The Chicago Tribune
December 27th, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Three years ago, President Bush declared that he had "zero tolerance" for trafficking in humans by the government's overseas contractors, and two years ago Congress mandated a similar policy.


If they've been stalling since 2005 makes you wonder HOW LONG this has been going on..

Sex slaves in Iraq trafficked to you by DynCorp and taxpayer dime.

What's more, Kathryn Bolkovac, a U.N. International Police Force monitor filed a lawsuit in Britain in 2001 against DynCorp for firing her after she reported that Dyncorp police trainers in Bosnia were paying for prostitutes and participating in sex trafficking. Many of the Dyncorp employees were forced to resign under suspicion of illegal activity. But none were prosecuted, since they enjoy immunity from prosecution in Bosnia.

Earlier that year Ben Johnston, a DynCorp aircraft mechanic for Apache and Blackhawk helicopters in Kosovo, filed a lawsuit against his employer. The suit alleged that that in the latter part of 1999 Johnson "learned that employees and supervisors from DynCorp were engaging in perverse, illegal and inhumane behavior were purchasing illegal weapons, women, forged passports and other immoral acts."

The suit charges that "Johnston witnessed coworkers and supervisors literally buying and selling women for their own personal enjoyment, and employees would brag about the various ages and talents of the individual slaves they had purchased."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DynCorp

[undergroundpanther]

3. How SICK does it get?

"When I arrived in Bosnia after a short time I noticed some strange behavior from my co-workers. I would see young girls walking around the town with older guys I worked with. These men would have their hands on these girls as they walk. The longer I stayed in Bosnia the worst these men acted. Finally one day I heard a something to the effect of

****DynaCorp employee brag that his girl wasn’t a day over twelve.***

I reported this all to the CID of the Army. I also reported the problems to my supervisors and co-workers, but all stayed the same in DynCorp’s little Bosnian Boys Club. For going to the CID I was fired, put in protective custody and have had my name thrashed by Dyncorp <...> The companies van would be outside the whorehouses every night, Dyncorp personnel had young children living with them for sex and house choirs. Many Dyncorp employees would brag of their sex escapades. My own sight supervisor was deeply involved in all of this. There is no way I can write all of this down for you, there is too much to mention."



Kathryn Bolkovac, a UN policewoman, who had been contracted by Dyncorp was fired after sending an email to a superior claiming U.N. police officers were turning a blind eye to human rights abuses and were actively involved in the trafficking of sex slaves.She accused officers, contracted by Dyncorp of using prostitutes and frequenting bars where **women were raped and forced to perform sex acts.**

http://electroniciraq.net/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/14/638

[ContraBass Black]

4. It came up on DU a couple of years ago.