Outsourcing U.S. War: Ugandans in Iraq
By Ann Garrison
August 23rd, 2010
Video illustrating KPFA Radio News, 08.22.2010, with Milton Allimadi and Michael Kirkpatrick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRRc-fCvp-E
Transcript: KPFA News Host Anthony Fest:
Earlier this week the Pentagon proclaimed that the last U.S. combat forces had left Iraq. This after an armored unit drove out of the country and crossed the border into Kuwait. However, there'll still be 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. An Iraq veteran turned war critic, Camillo Mejia, said that 4,000 U.S. troops who are leaving Iraq will be replaced by 7,000 employees of private military contractors. Other observers say the U.S. has long outsourced the Iraq occupation to troops from some of the world's poor
nations, such as Uganda, Angola, India, and Bangladesh, and that many of the mercenaries due to replace other U.S. troops will also come from those countries, especially from Uganda. KPFA's Ann Garrison has the story.
Ann Garrison for KPFA News:
"The New York City-based Black Star News publishes many critics of U.S. foreign policy in Africa and Black Star's Ugandan American Editor Milton Allimadi is among the most outspoken critics of U.S. use of Ugandan mercenaries, elsewhere in Africa and in Iraq."
Black Star News Editor Milton Allimadi:
"This is not surprising. It's a disturbing development and something needs to be done to really stop this because Ugandans are being victimized by the dictator, Yoweri Museven i, and now, in collusion with the United States government.
And another reason why this is very disturbing: It's an extension of what the U.S. has been doing for a couple of years now with respect to Uganda---outsourcing of torture of people interdicted by the United States to Uganda. And this [torture of Ugandans by Ugandan security agents] was well documented in a report by Human Rights Watch that has not garnered sufficient attention.
The report is called Open Secret; Illegal Detention and Torture by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force in Uganda http://www.hrw.org/node/82082. It was published last year, April 8 and 2009, and it says that the United States provided not only training, but also $5 million dollars for Ugandan security agents to torture individuals detained in Uganda, which is illegal according to the Leahy Amendment, an amendment by Senator Patrick Leahy, which prohibits U.S. cooperation or funding or training for any government that is torturing its individuals or committing human rights abuse. It needs to be investigated by the Senate and by Congress."
http://www.blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/6762/2010-08-23.html
By Ann Garrison
August 23rd, 2010
Video illustrating KPFA Radio News, 08.22.2010, with Milton Allimadi and Michael Kirkpatrick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRRc-fCvp-E
Transcript: KPFA News Host Anthony Fest:
Earlier this week the Pentagon proclaimed that the last U.S. combat forces had left Iraq. This after an armored unit drove out of the country and crossed the border into Kuwait. However, there'll still be 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. An Iraq veteran turned war critic, Camillo Mejia, said that 4,000 U.S. troops who are leaving Iraq will be replaced by 7,000 employees of private military contractors. Other observers say the U.S. has long outsourced the Iraq occupation to troops from some of the world's poor
nations, such as Uganda, Angola, India, and Bangladesh, and that many of the mercenaries due to replace other U.S. troops will also come from those countries, especially from Uganda. KPFA's Ann Garrison has the story.
Ann Garrison for KPFA News:
"The New York City-based Black Star News publishes many critics of U.S. foreign policy in Africa and Black Star's Ugandan American Editor Milton Allimadi is among the most outspoken critics of U.S. use of Ugandan mercenaries, elsewhere in Africa and in Iraq."
Black Star News Editor Milton Allimadi:
"This is not surprising. It's a disturbing development and something needs to be done to really stop this because Ugandans are being victimized by the dictator, Yoweri Museven i, and now, in collusion with the United States government.
And another reason why this is very disturbing: It's an extension of what the U.S. has been doing for a couple of years now with respect to Uganda---outsourcing of torture of people interdicted by the United States to Uganda. And this [torture of Ugandans by Ugandan security agents] was well documented in a report by Human Rights Watch that has not garnered sufficient attention.
The report is called Open Secret; Illegal Detention and Torture by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force in Uganda http://www.hrw.org/node/82082. It was published last year, April 8 and 2009, and it says that the United States provided not only training, but also $5 million dollars for Ugandan security agents to torture individuals detained in Uganda, which is illegal according to the Leahy Amendment, an amendment by Senator Patrick Leahy, which prohibits U.S. cooperation or funding or training for any government that is torturing its individuals or committing human rights abuse. It needs to be investigated by the Senate and by Congress."
http://www.blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/6762/2010-08-23.html