It's Lying ... and It's Murder: How KBR Electrocuted US Troops

[babylonsister]

It's Lying ... and It's Murder: How KBR Electrocuted US Troops
by Col. Daniel Smith | May 8, 2008 - 10:27am

snip//

Sunday's New York Times carried another story of lies, deception, and fraud that resulted in death by electrocution of at least twelve soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. These deaths did not come while the soldiers were on patrol or by unexpected encounters with downed "hot" wires. These "accidents" happened in facilities used as base camps for U.S. units, camps that were to have been completely refurbished - including the wiring - under terms of a $30 billion no-bid contract awarded to the one-time Halliburton subsidiary KBR (formerly Kellogg-Brown-Root).

The deaths reportedly all were the result of shoddy workmanship in the grounding of electrical sources, both in permanent structures and in machinery when in use. The problem is not new: in 2004, Army units in theatre were alerted concerning the potential for accidental electrocution. American electricians working for KBR in the war zone observed and notified KBR and even the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), the office that monitors contractor performance, of numerous instances of poor workmanship by undertrained and underpaid Iraqi and Afghan "electricians." According to the Times, nothing was done to remedy the problem because DCMA has neither the staff to monitor whether the specifications of a contract are being met nor "subject-matter experts" with the knowledge to inspect electrical wiring to insure all safety issues are resolved.

As if it had learned nothing from Tillman, the Army again lied to the family of at least one victim, Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, electrocuted while showering at his base camp. The Pentagon first told his family he had taken an electrical device into the shower. A few more days brought a different explanation: the large number of exposed live wires surrounding the shower area. Maseth's family is suing KBR for wrongful death.

That's where the record is now. But there is more to come as Congress is holding hearings on contracting irregularities, corruption, bribery and war profiteering. The Defense Department's Inspector-General has an enquiry of his own in progress. But unless Congress and the IG include in their investigations the influence that the KBR forgeries had on delaying subsequent maintenance and inspection schedules (as the logs would be taken as accurately reflecting what had been done) that might have corrected deficiencies, the real evil in this saga - that no one, not even those whose forgeries materially contributed to the deaths of 12 soldiers will be held accountable - will not be excised.

This is not simply corruption and fraud but a question of deaths for which specific individuals can and should be held accountable in a criminal court. Moreover, in these deaths, there is not even the excuse of the "fog of war" as appears may be the case in Pat Tillman's death. Many deaths were at fixed installations, the rest involved large generators. Contractors had pledged to provide "life support" services in return for $30 billion, but there was from the beginning no possibility that the Pentagon could exercise proper oversight as - according to the just-resigned Agency head, Keith Ernst - the DCMA had no "technical capability to exercise oversight."

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http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/14508
_______
Dan Smith
Colonel, USA (Ret.)
Senior Fellow on Military Affairs
Friends Committee on National Legislation

[ForeignSpectator]

1. A country for sell-out... by and to corrupt people, foreign and domestic...

...that's the only thought I have hearing about stuff like this.

[midnight]

2. I don't understand this no bid contract business. That is

probably the reason for so much nonsense.