It's Lying ... and It's Murder: How KBR Electrocuted US Troops
By Col. Daniel Smith
Created May 8 2008 - 10:27am
One segment of the May 4th edition of CBS television's 60 Minutes provided
an update on the struggle of Mary Tillman, mother of NFL star-turned Army
Ranger Pat Tillman, to get the full story of the cir***stances of her
son's
death while in action April 22, 2004 in Afghanistan. (May 3rd was the
anniversary of Tillman's funeral that the Pentagon so shamelessly
exploited
through the media, including the posthumous award of the Silver Star, the
second highest military decoration for bravery in the face of enemy fire.)
But Tillman had not died from enemy fire while taking on a large enemy
force
and giving his comrades time to regroup and eventually survive the
encounter. Yes there was a very hot firefight between Taliban/al Qaeda
adherents and the mixed Afghan/U.S. Army Ranger unit hunting them in the
rugged mountains of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Given that first
re****ts are invariably wrong, when Tillman's spouse and parents were
informed of his death, a simple "we are still investigating" should have
been the "explanation" proffered - especially to the media. But even
today,
Mary Tillman believes the Pentagon still has not told the whole truth
about
her son's death.
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 re****tedly all were the result of shoddy workman****p 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 workman****p
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 sup****t" 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."
Lewis Carroll's Alice had to go down a rabbit hole to discover a world
where
everything was the reverse of "normal." In Wonderland, "yes" meant "no"
(or
at best, maybe), "no" meant "yes" (or a "differently-interpreted" maybe),
and records were written, approved, and filed before any work described
therein or event actually happened. (After all, how can one possibly know
what is to be done by whom and in what order unless everything has been
carefully detailed beforehand?)
Don't look now, but that Mad Hatter world seems to have ascended the
rabbit
hole and now is in full swing about us. And its inhabitants seem
determined
to stay for as long as they can. But what else can one expect when
national
identity is based on war - the ultimate madness?
Tea, anyone?
_______
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
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political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues.
I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an op****tunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are
at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
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