Iraq Detaining Foreign Contractors

In a show of sovereignty, Iraq is detaining private contractors for working and traveling without proper paperwork.

(Image Source:  Iraq-Nam )    BY AUSTIN ALONZO ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN In a show of sovereignty after nine years of occupation, Iraq’s government is temporarily detaining foreign contractors over things like visas and weapon permits. Some of those detained have included employees of the US Embassy. The New York Times reports …   “...contractors have been told they have 10 days to leave Iraq or face arrest in what some industry officials call a form of controlled harassment … a former Army Green Beret medic … said … he and his colleagues were kept at an Iraqi army camp, fed insect-infested plates of rice and fish, forced to sleep in a former jail, and though not physically mistreated were verbally threatened …” No formal charges have been filed, but some detentions have lasted weeks. In addition to detainment, Iraq is kicking US business out of Baghdad’s Green Zone and refusing to give American troops and contractors immunity from Iraqi law. (Video from: Al Jazeera )  Many blame the resentment for US contractors on the 2007 Nisour (NIZ-YOUR) Square massacre, when contractors for US firm Blackwater allegedly opened fire on civilians in central Baghdad, killing 17 and wounding 18. But is this really about Iraq closing its doors to foreigners? The Washington Post reports the detentions are actually a result of the nascent Iraqi bureaucracy arguing over who is in charge of foreign contractors. The decision left one Iraqi businessman scratching his head... “‘We are, on one side, trying to promote Iraq to get foreign investors, but from the other side, the government is creating all kinds of difficulties … They just create rules overnight … It’s a state of chaos.” The US State Department says no Americans are currently being detained, and that detentions and visa delays are the result of bureaucratic inexperience, not malicious intentions.