Iraq: July 22, 2004

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As expected, the decision of the Philippines to withdraw its troops, in order to get a Filipino hostage released by Iraqi terrorists, simply encouraged the terrorists to grab more foreign workers. Taking men from Kenya and India, the terrorists are demanding that the firms they work for withdraw from Iraq. But these companies, largely based in Kuwait, know it's dangerous, but the money is good and casualties from violent Iraqis are considered a cost of doing business. Workers from places like India and Kenya see the high wages in Iraq as well worth the risk. So the terrorist kidnapping campaign will just get some of these workers killed, and will change nothing. Of course, the hiring of foreigners to do things like drive trucks and work in feeding facilities (for American troops) is neccessary because of the corruption in Iraq. It's too easy for the anti-government forces to bribe Iraqis to help them sabotage coalition efforts. Doing sufficient background checks on Iraqis, to find those who are unlikely to be corrupted, severely limits the number of workers available. So the foreigners are hired. 

 

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