IRAQ: Last year thousands of American blue collar workers, encouraged by the prospect of wages three times higher than in the US, queued at recruitment centres across the country for highly-paid contract jobs in Iraq. From Conor O'Clery, North America Editor, in New York
Now companies are cutting back or pulling out because of violence and blocked roads, raising questions about America's ability to complete an ambitious $30 billion reconstruction effort designed to promote a pro-western democracy in Iraq.
Yesterday Iraq Electricity Minister Mr Ayham al-Samarie announced that Siemens, a major contractor, had suspended its operations and pulled out all its employees from the country.
General Electric of Fairfield, Connecticut, which is helping restore power to Baghdad, confirmed that it has suspended most of its operations, though a spokesman said it remained committed to Iraq. In March a Briton and a Canadian working as GE security guards were shot dead. Washington Group International, a construction firm hired to rebuild the electricity and water systems in Iraq, is in a "lockdown" with its employees confined to guarded compounds, according to a spokesman.
Because of the increasing danger from violence and kidnappings, several countries have already pulled their contract workers out of Iraq, including Russia and Germany, home of Siemens. Two of the largest US contractors in Iraq, Betchel and Haliburton, say they are not pulling out but have curtailed travel by their employees.
Haliburton and its subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root have lost 33 out of 24,000 workers in Iraq and Kuwait since the war began, and the loss of three Kellogg transportation workers in recent days has highlighted the dangers for would-be contract workers.
Stephen Hulett of Michigan, Jack Montague of Illinois and Jeffery Parker of Louisiana died in a fuel convoy ambush and it was several days before their bodies were identified. They were "brave hearts without medals, humanitarians without parades and heroes without statues", said the company.
Their personal stories were typical of hundreds of Americans who saw a spell of work in Iraq as a means of achieving financial stability. Each had previously filed for bankruptcy and had been attracted by salaries of $100,000 a year and more.
Halliburton said it had no plans to suspend operations in Iraq or pull out and would continue with logistical support for troops and rebuilding Iraq's oil infrastructure. The company is still processing workers through its training centre in Houston Texas. However, scores of employees have reportedly applied to return to the US.
• The Bush administration has no intention of reinstating a US military draft despite increased troop deployments sparked by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.
Mr Rumsfeld's comments came after a Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said the US should consider reinstating conscription to replace the all-volunteer military. - (Reuters)