Pentagon contractors
The NY Times has a story this morning on American soldiers being killed by faulty electrical wiring done by contractors. It includes this snippet:
… 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. …
You can read the entire article at the link, but I wanted to juxtapose that article with this little note from ThinkProgress:
Scandal-ridden contracting firm KBR reported today that its first quarter net profits more than tripled, from $28 million last year to $98 million this year. Despite at least a dozen former employees alleging they had been raped by coworkers in Iraq and other employees saying coworkers regularly stole gold, artwork, and weapons, KBR remains in the Pentagon’s good graces: In mid-April, it received a 10-year, $150 billion contract to support the military overseas.
The Pentagon is not doing its job. Is no one in charge? Or has the person in charge been bought off with the promise of a lucrative KBR job?
