Defense Base Act Lawyers Blog

Libya is erupting in open warfare between elements of their military and large segments of the population. Some Libyan Air Force pilots have even left the country; preferring to defect and take their planes with them rather than be ordered to shoot civilians. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak resigned after weeks of enormous rallies and protests in Cairo and throughout the country. Elsewhere in the region longstanding administrations; some friendly with the United States; are being overthrown or are reaching compromises.

Military contractors from Afghanistan to the Middle East and throughout Europe and North Africa need to closely watch these breaking news stories. These are incredible and momentous events. The entire region is in turmoil and while that does increase opportunities for defense contractor positions, it also increases the inherent dangers.

Col. Muammar Gaddafi responded to protests in his country by having the protesters shot. There are open battles taking place in Libya today. Governments in Europe, North America, and throughout the world are demanding that Gaddafi stop the bloodshed and resign immediately. U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, summed up the position of the United States in telling Gaddafi to "go now." In Geneva, she said that Gaddafi and his followers used "mercenaries and thugs" to kill civilian protesters and terrorizing whole communities.

There are stories coming out of Libya of mid level military officers loyal to Gaddafi murdering soldiers who refuse to fire on civilian citizens.

The EU (European Union) today imposed even more sanctions on the Libyan dictator and his regime.Assets throughout the world have been frozen, travel is restricted for Col. Gaddafi and his top aides, and a general arms embargo is being imposed. Tens of thousands of refugees are trying to leave Libya. Migrants working in Libya (many from Egypt) are stranded near Libya's border with Tunisia. These workers (many in oil industry) are asking the Egyptian Army to rescue them. The overall situation is getting far worse. There will be a lot of opportunities for defense contractors in the upcoming months (possibly years). Civilian populations will be in turmoil for some time until the fighting stops (if it does). Security will be a top priority for the U.S. Military and other governmental agencies working in the area. Oil prices will be fluctuating wildly. The term "instability" hardly describes this explosive series of events. Defense contractors and the United States Armed Forces are getting prepared for different scenarios and remain on high alert.

The Middle Eastern unrest has grown from a few small gatherings of angry students to tens of thousands of protesters in multiple countries. After 31 years in power Hosni Mubarak stepped down from the presidency in Egypt. In Libya, there is general warfare taking place and a real question in the minds of diplomats and business leaders throughout the world is how it will develop.

Defense Base Act cases are likely to rise as the political and military situation in the region becomes more unstable. We ask our clients and their families to use extreme caution on and off base and in the occupied territories in the region.

Oil prices are likely to rise as Libya's oil; perhaps only 3% of the world's ready supply may be in jeopardy. Saudi Arabia has sufficient capacity to make up the difference easily, but there is still going to at least be an interim increase in prices. The United States has called on diplomats and many defense contractors to depart the region. Germany and the United Kingdom are working to send charter flights into Libya to bring out their nationals. We ask that everyone keep a close watch on local, national, and regional developments. As a practical matter, you might also consider contacting family members and keeping them apprised of your status and whereabouts. The internet has been "shut down" for a time in Egypt and severely curtailed in Yemen, Bahrain, and Libya. You might also want to pre-select a Defense Base Act attorney if an unfortunate accident should take you out of commission. Let your family know your wishes in that area should you sustain a serious injury. Check on your rights now. Protect yourself at all costs.

Travel restrictions; almost always an annoying issue; are going to get worse for the foreseeable future. We suggest you keep your valuables, identification documents, and travel documents with you at all times. We, of course, are quite hopeful that the region will settle down, become stable, and perhaps even more democratic. Still, please exercise extreme caution and take prudent steps to protect yourself.

Our military servicemen and women have been exposed to brutal war time conditions in multiple regions throughout the word; most recently in the Middle East and in Afghanistan. These courageous men and women have suffered a vast array of injuries, including catastrophic spinal cord damage resulting in paralysis, amputation cases, and massive head trauma. Post traumatic shock syndrome (PTSD) has become more commonplace among our veterans. Even those who have been able to come home with little or no physical injury are often still traumatized by their experiences. Our nation and other freedom loving peoples owe an enormous debt of gratitude and respect for our Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Coast Guard veterans and we want to extend our thanks to them and their families.

But, let us not forget the others who have also suffered horrific conditions in Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the rest of the Middle East. Of course, let us not forget Korea and the rest of Asia. These peoples are also brave, also our sons and daughters, and also they have been injured in war time conditions. And, yet, rarely are they mentioned in the press or in political debate. They are the men and women who willingly work for the Federal Government as contractors. They provide support, security, intelligence, and a multitude of services to our military and other governmental agencies in occupied territories and military installations throughout the world. They also get shot and blown up; suffering amputations and death when insurgents decide to use an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) at a restaurant, a coffee shop, or just on a simple roadside. We should remember and thank these contractors as well.

Theirs is often an untold story. When we look at the human cost of war and the preservation of security and peace, we have to remember that over 1,350 civilian contractor personnel died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 29,000 other contractors sustained injuries and approximately 8,500 of those were very serious. Many of these contractors are foreign nationals working for our Armed Forces. They risk their lives, their families, and at times their whole villages when they help the United States Military.

While there is not enough public support or awareness of the risks and dangers faced by military contractors, (defense contractors), there are legal benefits and protections available. These provide needed medical care, medical evacuation, long term hospitalization and rehabilitation. There are procedures to get lost wages suffered as a result of an injury. And, their are death benefits to help a struggling family endure the loss of a father, a mother, a son, or daughter. Our goal is to help you, the military contractor, secure services and benefits vital to you and your family. The United States Defense Base Act allows us as advocates for the injured to secure from our key location in Florida these benefits and more. Whether you are based in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else in the world, you are entitled to medical care and lost income. Whether you are a U.S. Citizen or not makes no difference. You are entitled also to help and legal representation from experienced attorneys. We are proud to represent the injured; the often forgotten, but courageous men and women of many nations who throughout the world have voluntarily joined with the United States Military in pursuit of freedom and security throughout the world.

The United States has had difficulty determining which side or sides to support in the recent unrest in Egypt. For thirty years, Hosni Mubarak lead a stable economical, political, and military regime in Egypt. As our defense contractors and their many employees well know, the United States has had close military ties with Egypt during the Mubarak administration. Of course, the United States is also the international champion of freedom and democracy. Our legal system has provided some of these protections to our citizens and those who work for defense contractors and the U.S. Military throughout the world.

On one hand, the U.S. supports the people's right to peaceably assemble, to choose in a democratic process their leaders, to make laws through elected assemblies, and to seek redress for wrongs in unbiased courts. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin during the Second Continental Congress wrote into our Declaration of Independence those very principles. George Washington, our first great military leader and later president, fought the British and their Hessian mercenaries for many brutal years to win those precious rights. It is hard, therefore, to reconcile America's historical role in promoting democracy with our support (up until now) of the Mubarak administration.

Our defense contractors and those many that work directly or indirectly for them are also scrambling to achieve a balance. Egypt has for decades received American military support; arms, equipment, support, and money (in the billions). The popular uprising in Egypt has unseated Mr. Mubarak who resigned just days ago. The Egyptian military is in official control and has promised to hold free and fair democratic elections within six months. What will really happen? When? How?

These questions are being posed at the highest governmental and business levels throughout the world. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) frequently has the best coverage; comprehensive, current, and unbiased; on this and related topics and we invite our clients to keep current on these developments. Their link to the Middle Eastern section of the World Report is at BBC Middle East. Please remember that what happens in Egypt is likely to have significant effects in the entire region and this may very well affect you directly.

Whether you are working in Iraq at Victory Base, Camp Taji, Abu Ghraib, or Fallujah, you need to keep abreast of these developments. If you are based in Qatar at the Al Udeid Air Base or are in Kuwait at Camp Buehring or Camp Ali Al Salem, then you and everyone else in the region need to track these news stories. Remember, in Iran, in 1979 it was popular student demonstrations and uprisings that toppled the Shah from power. It was only after that, when there was great political instability, that the Ayatollah Khomeini seized an opportunity to gain power as sweeping and totalitarian as that held by the Shah. In Egypt, the Moslem Brotherhood and others may seek to do the same.

When there is great political instability, there is even greater risk of conflict and injury to the employees of defense contractors providing logistical support, security, and other services to the United States Military. Should injury or death occur due to this regional instability, you or your family should immediately consult with experienced attorneys strategically based in Florida to quickly secure the medical and financial benefits of the United States Defense Base Act.