For those of you who thought debt bondage was a thing of the past, think again. Sources at the US embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan say that at least three landlords are currently holding around 170 peasants at gun point for failure to pay back $12 US dollar debts, that were deemed an illegal way to force them into indentured servitude btw, since September of this year. This is happening as Hilary Clinton visits Pakistan as the Secretary of State for the first time. You can read E. Benjamin Skinner's story on the matter for TIME.com here.
I personally feel that it's important not to compromise or back down from an issue of this magnitude when our entire foreign policy is currently being restructured and we are repositioning ourselves as protectors of human rights. It's going to be crucial to see how the US's rhetoric on human rights is going to be tested here. Remember that this is all going on at the same time that the war in Afghanistan is reaching a delicate point.
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