We have long known that our military has been outsourced and that this has allowed them to skirt our laws as well as international laws. Now this:
Military Contractor Immunity – And You Wonder Why the Deficit is High?
From burn pits to gang rapes to crashing planes into mountains during joy rides, there seems to be absolutely no limit to the unlawful behavior of military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan (not to mention the Gulf of Mexico). Now, thanks to Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, we’ve learned something else. These companies have somehow gotten the Pentagon to pick up the tab for all of this wrongdoing. So, while it’s “get out of jail free” for them, it’s “pay up” for you, U.S. taxpayer. (Deficit reduction commission, are you paying attention to this??)
Pentagon disclosure highlights special indemnity with KBR contract in Iraq in hexavalent chromium exposure case by Oregon soldiers
A deposition filed last summer in U.S. District Court in Portland revealed that on the eve of the Iraq invasion, a KBR attorney won a secret clause ensuring that U.S. taxpayers, and not KBR, would pay in the event of any death or injury. In September, Democratic Reps. Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader, and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley introduced a bill in both houses to boost congressional oversight of defense contracts.
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Blumenauer said he remained concerned that "KBR's contract may be much more loosely drawn, removing incentives for the contractor to behave responsibly and exposing taxpayers to enormous liability. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for KBR's reckless actions that exposed our National Guard troops to harm."
When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Looks For a Taxpayer Bailout
It has long been known that the Pentagon legally covers dozens of military contractors doing dangerous jobs at home, such as making anthrax vaccine or disposing of mustard gas. But the immunity for harm granted KBR, which has brought us such creative innovations as gang rapes and carcinogenic burn pits in its mission to make U.S. troops the best supported in human history, appears to be far broader -- and potentially costlier to taxpayers -- according to documents released by U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer last Wednesday.
Oregon Congressman Blumenauer (D) has a complete list of the Department of Defense Documents he obtained in an effort to research the problem in regards to the injuries in his district, Oregon's 3rd. There are many more contractors in the list, but the KBR disclosures stand out due to the recent charges against Dick Cheney.
Last week "Nigeriaarrested 23 in the scandal and Thursday announced that they filing charges against current and former officers of Halliburton & KBR, via spokesman for the ant-graft agency. Regarding the charges he stated, "they are not unconnected to his role as the chief executive of Halliburton." and that an arrest warrant for him that would be transmitted to Interpol for action.
According to Wiki
KBR's maintenance work in Iraq has been criticized after reports of soldiers electrocuted from faulty wiring.[21] Specifically, KBR has been charged by the Army for improper installation of electrical units in bathrooms throughout U.S. bases. CNN reported that an Army Special Forces soldier, Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, died by electrocution in his shower stall on January 2, 2008. Army documents showed that KBR inspected the building and found serious electrical problems a full 11 months before his death. KBR noted "several safety issues concerning the improper grounding of electrical devices." But KBR's contract did not cover "fixing potential hazards;" It covered repairing items only after they broke down.[22] Maseth's family has sued KBR.[23] In January 2009, the US Army CID investigator assigned to the case recommended that Maseth's official cause of death should be changed from "accidental" to "negligent homicide". KBR supervisors were blamed for failing to ensure electrical and plumbing work were performed by qualified employees, and for failure to inspect the work.[24] In late January 2009, the Defense Contract Management Agency handed down a "Level III Corrective Action Request" to KBR. This is disseminated after a contractor is found being in a state of "serious noncompliance," and is one step from suspending or terminating a contract.[24] Despite these issues, KBR was recently awarded a $35 million contract for major electrical work.[25]
In the U.S., KBR and Halliburton agreed to pay $579 million to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2009 for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that bans bribery of foreign officials to obtain or retain business, in Nigeria from 1994 to 2004. In the same scandal, Technip agreed to pay $338 million in late June 2010, and 10 days later Snamprogetti–formerly a unit of Eni and later a unit of Saipem–agreed to pay $365 million.
Richard Bruce DickCheney (born January 30, 1941) served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under George W. Bush and was chairman and CEO of Halliburton Company from 1995 to 2000.
Halliburton and KBR Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is a subsidiary and both have quite a history of failure. However they have continued to get the bulk of contracts with the U.S. military, including during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, World War II and the Vietnam War. KBR is the largest non-union construction company in the United States, which might explain their shabby work record.
We owe Representative Blumenauer a debt of gratitude for bringing this to light.
We can all ask, "How is this Possible?" and "Why do these contractors keep getting contracts?"