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| Iraq |
| StrategyPage Afghanistan: Really, Really Trusting Iraqis |
| 2008-10-31 |
| Yet another sign that peace has come to Iraq. The U.S. is beginning to replace foreign workers with Iraqis. The foreign contractors are cheaper than soldiers, mainly because most of them are unskilled labor from countries with very low pay scales. These civilians still make several times what they could back home, if they could find a job back home. Foreigners were hired because it was too dangerous to hire Iraqis. First, there was the loyalty problem, and then there was the risk of terrorists threatening, or killing, Iraqis working on American bases. There were some Iraqis working on those bases, mainly interpreters and some key specialists. And these Iraqis faced constant danger from terrorists. This policy greatly reduced the terrorist attacks inside American bases. There were only a few in over five years, all carried out by Iraqis who had access to the bases. ... One of the first major bases to replace foreign contractors will be al Asad air base. There are 5,000 foreign civilians at al Asad, and all are expected to be gone, and replace by Iraqis, within a year. It may be a few years before all (or nearly all) of the civilian contractors are replaced by Iraqis. This will save the United States a lot of money, as the Iraqis will be paid according to prevailing wages in Iraq. That's less than half what most of the foreign contractors are paid. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #2 Don't worry about them making less than half, Obama will find a way to give them a tax cut too. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-10-31 19:37 |
| #1 Less than half huh? Don't say that too loud or Nike will be horning in on your deal. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-10-31 17:31 |