U.S. stalls on human trafficking

December 29th, 2005 at 20:19 Björn Hallberg

Why not? Even the simple ban on torture was fought tooth and nail. And after all, every empire has slaves. And the US is so good at it, having had plenty of experience in the past. In fact this is the neoliberal empire nightmare, where legionnaires and mercs are encouraged to make money on the side selling people who do not have the financial standing to be free, sinking to every imaginable depravity. They probably feel they’re doing these people a favour by opening up new markets. If one can work in a sweatshop for a few cents, why not sell them into prostitution or virtual slave labour as well. After all, opening new markets is one of the primary objectives of the US armed forces. Some still insist on calling it globalization.
Plus it goes hand in hand with America’s contempt for foreign peoples and cultures. And of course, sexual abuse has been so widely documented within the US military that one can wonder if it too is one of the primary objectives. It’s an everyday thing as those that are unfortunate enough to live close to US imperial bases well know.

Chicago Tribune - 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.

But notwithstanding the president’s statement and the congressional edict, the Defense Department has yet to adopt a policy to bar human trafficking.

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, according to those involved and Defense Department records.

The lobbying groups opposing the plan say they’re in favor of the idea in principle, but said they believe that implementing key portions of it overseas is unrealistic. They represent thousands of firms, including some of the industry’s biggest names, such as DynCorp International and Halliburton subsidiary KBR, both of which have been linked to trafficking-related concerns.

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