"Slave Next Door" Exposes U.S. Gov't Sanctioned Slavery

Here's a quick quiz for you: When did the U.S. government last use slave labor to build something?  1776? 1865?  Actually, the answer is 2003.  The following tale of slaves bought with American taxpayer dollars is an excerpt from The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today.

Boondoggles, pork barrels, and shoddy work are scandalous, but it was another, uglier issue that brought First Kuwaiti to the world's attention. Some of their contract workers had been trafficked to Iraq against their will, held by force, and paid little or nothing. First Kuwaiti - and by association, the U.S. Department of State - were using slave labor to build the embassy. Taxpayers were footing the bill. The idea of a U.S. subcontractor trafficking enslaved workers into the country where we are waging a war to introduce freedom and democracy, is unthinkable. And yet, in case after case, the construction company hired workers, normally through sub-contractors, from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Egypt, Turkey, and the Philippines under false pretenses. Falsely promised work in Dubai, they were landed in a combat zone. Once in Iraq contractors confiscated the workers' passports, forced them to live in squalid conditions, and to work long hours for little or no pay.

But it's not only the government brining slavery to America.  The old slave ship of the 1800s has been replaced by the 747. Victims come from every region and are exploited in every state. They exist specifically to work, they are unable to leave, and are forced to live under the constant threat and reality of violence. By definition, they are slaves. Today, we call it human trafficking, but make no mistake: It is the slave trade.

This is the kind of knowledge you can't "unlearn"; the only question is, what do you do with the information once you have it? It's a question we must all address for ourselves. We tend to think of our America as the country where slavery has no place; the dire truth is, we are pretty far from freedom, and it will take a lot of work and dedication - by the government, and by us - to make it so.

You can buy a copy of The Slave Next Door here, and you can take action against slavery here.