US Military Uniforms Being Made Overseas and in Prisons

The New York Times is reporting that the US Military is currently acquiring the uniforms worn by soldiers, airmen, sailors and even TSA agents, are being made in either Third World sweat shops or US prisons. This is in direct violation of US laws requiring significant proportions o US Military supplies to come from the domestic market. At the same time that President Obama is trying to convince companies to research where their clothing comes from to insure it is not being manufactured under unsafe conditions, the Pentagon is buying from substandard dangerous workplaces. Of the supplies manufactured in the US, prisoners paid as little as a couple dollars a day make a large portion.   

  

This is a stunning commentary on the state of US morals, or rather the lack thereof. At the same time that there is shock and outrage over disasters in textile manufacturing centers resulting in mass death, it turns out the US itself is getting the clothes on the backs of it’s soldiers from the same sources. Would our “patriots” who claim such pride in America’s uniform if they realized that those uniforms were made by children and workers who must labor in unsafe conditions.

Using US prisoners to manufacture our troop’s uniforms speaks to an even deeper level of depravity. We must realize that the tools used by our military to “protect freedom” are being manufactured by persons who are being held against their will, often for drug crimes, and paid a pittance for long dangerous hours. Little concern is given to the well-being or safety of prisoners who are “employed” in prison industry.