European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 stars and stripes monday March 192007 Thomas e Kelsch publisher John d Panasiewicz general manager it col Daniel r Todd Usan commander news and editorial Robb Grindstaff Doug Clawson executive editor managing editor Bra Dos e Bowers opinion pages editor Pacific Joe Gromelski electronic edition editor assistant managing editors Karen Willenbrecht news Christopher six Brian Bowers features Sean Moores sports Thomas p Skeen Pacific news editor Patrick Dickson addresses us mail unit 45002 Apo a 963375002 International mail 2317 Roppo Ngi 7chome Mina Toku Tokyo 1060032 Japan fax Dan 2293132 Civ f 81 03 34088936 email readers forum advertising marketing circulation Central office 529 14th Street new suite 350 Washington do 200451301 phone Dan 3127630900 or Civ 202 7610900 fax 202 7610890 editorial director 529 14th St new suite 350 Washington do 200451301 phone Dan 3127630945 or 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Central office 529 14th slow suite 350 Washington do 200451301 periodicals postage paid at san Francisco Calif postmaster Send address changes to Pacific stars and stripes unit 45002 Apo a 963375002 ombudsman David Mazzarella the stars and stripes ombudsman protects the free flow of news and information reporting any attempts by the military or other authorities to undermine the newspapers Independence the ombudsman also responds to concerns and questions from readers and monitors coverage for fairness accuracy timeliness and balance the ombudsman welcomes comments from readers and can be contacted by email at or by phone at 2027610945 european and Pacific stars and stripes 2007 stars and stripes web site  letters to the stars and stripes welcomes your editorials and columns Fiat Are newspaper and values letters 00 Lance in die lives of our readers be signed and must include or base and Telephone number please limit All letters tt300 words we Reserve the letters for length taste and clarity Send your letters to us mail readers forum stars and stripes unit 45002 Apap 963375002 International Mafe stars and stripes Mina Toku Toftoy 1060032 rial Dan Epam 033408893s via fax from outside country code 481 3 Dan 2b327j save Money by saving bases it dawned on me this morning while Reading stars and stripes How to fix the problems at Walter Reed army medical at least save enough Money to renovate the hotel where wounded troops must endure while staying there Stop mov ing soldiers and families from adequate facilities and posts such As Friedberg Ray Barracks in Germany to relatively austere fort Bliss Texas where the need exists to build housing Barracks motor pools Etc in order to accommodate the units moving there consider leaving the 3rd corps support command in Wiesbaden Germany in Stead of having to build an entire area of fort Knox by to House the unit its sol Diers and families the army has stated its easier for a unit to deploy from fort Knox about 600 Miles from the nearest Ocean port while Wiesbaden is Only about 250 Miles to the closest Deepwater Harbor and Only 45 minutes from the next big Mili tary Airport possibly look at stopping the building at Gfa Fenohr Germany in order to move troops from some adequate excess faculty that has All the necessary amenities schools childcare centers even new giant Post exchanges like Leighton Barracks yeah i know consolidation saves Money but when based on the reports about Walter Reed and other cos saving measures the department of defense is strapped for Cash do we really need to close so called excess faculties in order to build new ones and then put out poli cies about saving Money and cancelling Welcome Home parties for returning troops i never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier but Heck i can figure out a few ways to save a million dollars or two dont you think the politicians can As Well Paul Wortmann Wiesbaden Germany slavery not lawful but still prevalent by John Miller the existence of slavery in the 21st Century comes As a Shock to Many americans who believe that the institution ended with the civil War although slavery today is not Legal it flourishes the International slave Trade reaches into every country around the world and involves at the least a few million people and by some estimates As Many As 27 million it includes the old fashioned buying Selling and owning of humans As Well As Many forms of sexual exploitation and bonded labor in which people Are held against their will and forced to work on farms or in factories to pay off obligations that never end in the so called advanced countries the largest category is sex slavery which is linked to legalized or tolerated prostitution in the near East the largest category is do Mystic servitude slavery fed by a massive migration of Young women from South Asia on the Indian subcontinent the largest Cate gory is Bonde labor slavery of the lowest castes in Rice Mills carpet factories and Brick kilns in Uganda and sri Lanka the largest category is child Soldier slavery modern slavery is More gender based than victims Are girls in Many instances it is linked to organized crime and globalization plays a part As Well except for Bonde labor slavery rarely does one find a victim in her Hometown she has been trafficked from one Region to an other or across International Borders As us ambassador Large on mod hernday slavery nothing moved me As much As the meetings i had All Over the world with survivors i did not believe Sla very could exist in a democratic country until i met Katya in the Netherlands Katya had left a failing marriage and a 2yearold daughter in the czech Republic when a Friend of the family suggested that she go to Amsterdam where she could make Money As a waitress she and other Young women were driven across Europe by a czech trafficker who turned them Over to a dutch trafficker Kartyas passport was seized and she was driven to a Brothel in Amsterdam relight District when Katya protested explaining that she came to the Netherlands to work in a restaurant the traffickers claimed that she owed them 20000 euros for bringing her across Europe when she refused to Cooper ate she said the traffickers told her that you will if you want your daughter at Home to live Katya succumbed As have Many in West Ern Europe Japan and even the United states i met Susan in Minneapolis starting at age 13 she spent two decades terrorized by a Pimp at first she thought she loved him but she soon realized she had no control no Way out when Susan was rescued she was penniless and so traumatized that she could not get on a bus alone lord a laotian teenager i met in thai land was 11 when she was sold by her parents then resold and finally deposited across the Border in a Bangkok embroidery factory prevented from leaving the factory Given minimal food and clothing and no wages lord and other children sewed 14 hours a Day when she rebelled she was banished to a closet As an example her owner poured Industrial chemicals on her and there was Nour a Young indonesian woman who came to saudi Arabia to work As Domestic help and Send Money Home to her family she was locked up by her Mas ters beaten and lost fingers and toes from gangrene Katya Susan lord and Nour Are More fortunate than most victims they escaped or doonesbury were rescued and they survived Katya had the help of a Friendly taxi Driver Susan met outreach workers on the Street who persuaded her to make a break lord was rescued by the police and Nour was discovered at a Hospital where she had been taken by her owners for repairs there Are signs of belated Progress when the us passed its anti trafficking Law in 2000 Only a handful of countries had such Laws in the last two years 80 countries have passed similar legislation several years ago the number of human traffickers sent to jail numbered in the hundreds in 2005 the year of the most recent state department statistics that figure was 4700 Over the last few years hundreds of Shel ters have been set up around the world to care for survivors Media coverage of the problem and Public awareness has risen exponentially and yet so much More re Mains to be done in every country including the United states what can americans do support Church and civic groups that help fight modern Sla very abroad find out if there is an Organiza Tion caring for survivors in your Community and support it make sure local police Are sensitive to and search out victims this month Marks the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave Trade in Britain a first step toward full abolition in the British Empire and later in the United states that work was championed by hundreds of activists among them William Wilberforce in England and Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe in the United states who nurtured a 19th Century abolitionist movement now it Falls on us their descendants to continue their work nurturing a new abolitionist movement for the 21st Cen Tury John Miller began working for the state department on the Issue of slavery in 2003 he was us Ambas Sadora Large for modern Day slavery from 2004 to 2006 he now teaches in the International studies school at George Washington University this column first appeared in the los Angeles times by Garry Trudeau i hitting my5tripe now this sour fourth Cah Topay Mon the other you sound sceptical plact out you May not 05 hearing from my 50 much