Engineers, Teachers, and Doctors a Threat to Iraqi Economy
I laughed out loud at this Fortune fluff prop piece about the US/UK garrisoning of Umm Qasr. It had all the ingrediants of fine propaganda: talk of relief ships, friendly local children, invocation of the Shiite Rebellion back in the day. But the funniest bit was when they talked about how they want to run it as a sweatshop:
Before the war, 1,000 or so local workers got about $34 to $38 a month to work here, and the British say they plan to pay them a bit more, but not too much. The British worry that if wages get too high, more skilled people like engineers, teachers and doctors will flock to the port, devastating the local economy.
Those dastardly Iraqis! Not only are they not grateful for being invaded, but now they have the temerity to want mobility of labour! Why can’t they be content with their appointed serfdom?