While President Obama touts the end of the Iraq war to score political points, US contractors in Iraq are being detained. The State Department’s official response is that they are not overly concerned. They brush it off as bureaucratic red tape effecting only a “handful” of individuals. CNS News has the details.
On Sunday, Jan. 15, the International Stability Operations Association (ISOA), an organization that represents contractors in Iraq, sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asking her to intervene regarding the Iraqi government’s detention of foreign contractors, the Financial Times reported.
At Tuesday’s briefing, in response to a question about the contractors, Toner said: “Our understanding is there’s been a handful of U.S. contractors that have been involved in this. Apparently, what’s going on here – and obviously, this is a situation that we’re watching closely – but this appears to be nothing more than Iraqi officials who are certainly operating out of an abundance of caution given the recent spate of violence in Baghdad and surroundings in carrying out their duties.”
Oh, well, that’s not how ISOA sees it.
According to the Financial Times, in the letter to State Secretary Clinton, the ISOA stated, “We want to ensure that you are aware of the seriousness of this issue and the impact it is having on our members’ ability to support the transition and government programs in Iraq and ask your assistance in working with the government of Iraq to reach a prompt solution.”
“The government of Iraq has neither renewed 2011 visas nor issued new 2012 visas,” the organization told Clinton in the letter, adding that, “Approved movements have been subject to stops, detentions, and confiscation of equipment without justification.”
According to the Financial Times, ISOA President David Brooks estimated that the number of foreign contractors detained by the Iraqi government in “recent weeks” is in the “low hundreds.”
Nevertheless, the State Department today downplayed the seriousness of the Iraqi government’s actions. (Read More)
These contractors must be non-union.
I guess this is the result of President Obama and Vice President Biden blowing off Iraq’s leadership for nearly a year.
Update: Linked by Katy Pundit – thanks!
Tags: contractors, detained, Iraq, State Department, us
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The new Defense Authorization Act allows Americans to be detained on US soil as well, this could be a trend!
Obama got exactly what he wanted, an immediate and thoughtless withdrawl from Iraq! This means that anyone who gets run over in the panic should consider themselves as collatteral damage statistics!
Obama is just as much of an expert on retreat as he is on the economy! If people are inconvenienced by his, “Jump now, reason later,” approach to politics, tell a friend, and show up to the polls in November!
Obama’s friends are certainly profiting from his hair-brained, politically savy approach to government!
The political arena is cluttered by many scandals, but Obama will outdo them all!
It has been said that if you want to win, break the rules! It takes years for the courts to decide how to try to fix the mess! By then the damage has been done, and the law-breaker is long gone!
Corrupt politicians just continue to improve on their game!
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