Speaking of raw deals... I heard through the grapevine that all the Kuwaitis, who assisted the US military with translation duties for weeks leading up to and during the war, got sent home with a nice pat on the back and thanked for "volunteering". I'm not sure how much they were supposed to be paid per day, but it was supposed to be a well-paid assignment. I even considered joining myself, but I had just started a new job and wasn't about to disappear indefinitely.... Of course, they all took weeks of unpaid leave to help the US troops, under the assumption that they would be paid, so now their Kuwaiti employers may or may not make it up for them.