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Keep on Truckin'
VIDEO: Behind the scenes in the Iraq machine.
iWork in iRaq.
With the military mission widely criticized for being undermanned and ill-equipped, working as a foreign contractor in Iraq is undoubtedly among the world's most thankless jobs. So, after her husband, Mark, left home to drive a mail truck in Iraq for KBR Inc. (a former Halliburton subsidiary), Renee Taylor began producing videos of his work.
American Truckers at War, showcases the work of the "Iron Pony Express" -- a name given to the truckers that deliver mail to American troops in Iraq.
Mainstream media has given a great deal of coverage to American military operations in Iraq. But while Blackwater's civilian killings were broadly reported, relatively little has been said about the rest of the 100,000 foreign contractors who have travelled to Iraq to perform the war's more mundane tasks -- like cooking, garbage collection, and cleaning latrines.
While the low-fi country-twang of the music in Taylor's video may put you off, the lyrics -- by truck driving crooner Joey Holliday, set to a series of video stills -- provide a rare glimpse of the hopes and fears of a trucker in Iraq. And this video is merely one of a genre that attempt to highlight these contractors' precarious working conditions, from a lack of basic security measures to protect from shelling, mortar and rocket attacks, roadside bombs and even rocks, to poor medical coverage, and overcrowded housing. While Taylor's video is less popular, more sensationalistic depictions have garnered several million views on video-sharing sites.
Though some might suggest that the contractors are war-profiteers and therefore undeserving of compassion for the risks they face, it's hard not to marvel at the hubris demonstrated by the private contracting companies working in Iraq who -- at least insofar as these videos suggest -- fail to properly provide for the safety of their employees.
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Canis Latrans
4 years ago
None, Nada, Zip, Zero
I don't care how working class they are. And I'm both a citizen of and activist for the working class-, allowing for my years and retirement. But these guys get none, zip, zero, nada admiration or sympathy from me.
I'd rather give my respect even to the Iraqi/Arab religious crazies trying to kill all these foreign invaders of their lands. And that's as true in Afghanistan, though I feel more of a sense of regret here-, 'cause young Canadians of our working class are involved there on the side of the US Empire cause. (I don't care how you attempt to dress it up or what gender surgery you perform on this over-arching reality. A rose by any other name remains a rose just the same.)
We have our own job that needs to be done here, preparing for the defence of our own country's nations (Anglo, Quebecois and Native) from these US Empire predators.
Bring our troops home from the Middle East. Screw the US cause, it's soldiers and mercenaries. We have a greater need of our armed forces here-, fortifying, being present, and preparing for our defense of our North, and to better secure even our southern border, from the theft of our resouces going on under the cover of NAFTA and so-called continental integration, with the aid of both Liberal and Paleo-Conservative US Empire Loyalists in this country.
Better our time be spent agitating and working for this end, than misplacing our sympathies on this bunch of truck driving, US Empire serving dummies.