Not satisfied merely with screwing the American public through shady no-bid contracts and sub-standard work, the NY Times reports that KBR, the former Halliburton Subsidiary connected to Vice President Dick Cheney, may be responsible for multiple deaths of American soldiers through faulty wiring.
From the NY Times:
WASHINGTON — In October 2004, the United States Army issued an urgent bulletin to commanders across Iraq, warning them of a deadly new threat to American soldiers. Because of flawed electrical work by contractors, the bulletin stated, soldiers at American bases in Iraq had received severe electrical shocks, and some had even been electrocuted.
The bulletin, with the headline "The Unexpected Killer," was issued after the horrific deaths of two soldiers who were caught in water — one in a shower, the other in a swimming pool — that was suddenly electrified after poorly grounded wiring short-circuited.
Not only was the military aware of these deadly conditions created by contractors, conditions were also brought to the attention of KBR by its employees.
American electricians who worked for KBR, the Houston-based defense contractor that is responsible for maintaining American bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, said they repeatedly warned company managers and military officials about unsafe electrical work, which was often performed by poorly trained Iraqis and Afghans paid just a few dollars a day.
One electrician warned his KBR bosses in his 2005 letter of resignation that unsafe electrical work was "a disaster waiting to happen."
Another said he witnessed an American soldier in Afghanistan receiving a potentially lethal shock.
A third provided e-mail messages and other documents showing that he had complained to KBR and the government that logs were created to make it appear that nonexistent electrical safety systems were properly functioning.
KBR itself told the Pentagon in early 2007 about unsafe electrical wiring at a base near the Baghdad airport, but no repairs were made. Less than a year later, a soldier was electrocuted in a shower there.
The media often reports "milestones" of the death toll in Iraq, as the number of troops killed in hostile action continues to climb despite the claims of "Mission Accomplished" five years ago. I have seen news reports documenting the shoddy work done by contractors in Iraq, including the boondoggle of the US Embassy in Baghdad. But I have yet to see it reported, until today's NY Times story, that soldiers are being killed as a result of these no-bid, good-old-boy contracts.
I hear people say constantly that the "media doesn't report enough about the good things going on in Iraq, like building new schools and hospitals." It's troubling to think that these same contractors are responsible for Iraq's reconstruction, costing the US hundreds of billions of dollars, and yet they can't even do proper work to prevent the deaths of American troops in the shower or the swimming pool.
Just another chapter in Bush's outstanding legacy.