Pentagon Inspects KBR, but Don't Hold Your Breath

Written by: Kate Drazner on Jul 3, 2008 12:14 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Montco DFA, PA for Democracy

Call it a qualified victory.

On July 1, the Pentagon agreed to investigate the showers built by KBR, a private military contractor in Iraq. More than a dozen U.S. soldiers have been fatally electrocuted by faulty wiring in the showers. There has been a lot of blogger commentary and reporting about the electrocution, including several items I wrote for Progressive Future.

And while I think we certainly helped push this issue into the mainstream, I'm pretty sure all the blogger activism in the world would not have made a bit of a difference without the efforts of Cheryl Harris.

Cheryl's son, Ryan, died from electric shocks suffered in a KBR-built shower. The military told Cheryl that Ryan died because he foolishly entered the shower with an electric device. Which, of course, turned out to be a lie. It was the fault of an improperly-grounded water pump, which electrocuted the young sergeant.

Cheryl did some research, and found that a similar scenario had caused the deaths of at least 12 other U.S. soldiers, as well as a multitude of reports of milder shocks among troops. She also found that faulty shower wiring and reported electric shocks had been brought to KBR's attention as early as 2004, and the contracting company neither investigated nor mitigated the situation. In the spring of this year, Cheryl filed a wrongful death suit against KBR.

Why didn't KBR do anything to fix the 'shocking showers' back in 2004? Because their contracts stipulated that the company was responsible for upgrades, repairs and inspection, and they are claiming that these services do not include mitigation. I don't know about you, but to me, repairs and mitigation sound like pretty much the same thing. To me, it seems pretty clear that these contracts were set up with the main purpose of allowing Bush-Cheney cronies (remember KBR used to be a part of Halliburton) to profit immensely off of the war, leaving any consideration of military needs as an afterthought.

While the Pentagon's announcement is a step in the right direction, I'm not breathing a sigh of relief.

After all, the Pentagon has made it clear that enforcing the law against these crony-run contracting companies is absolutely not on their docket. We've had years and years of reported wrongdoings from these guys, and now, in 2008, five years after the war began, is the first time we are hearing of the Pentagon enforcing some semblance of the law upon their contractors.

Bottom line: We need to end this war and bring our troops home. But while they remain in harm's way, let's not overlook the degree to which the Bush administration has, in effect, increased the dangers they face by turning a blind eye to the performance of U.S. military contractors.

I'm asking everyone reading these words to remain vigilant and do all they can to help Cheryl force KBR to face consequences for their abuse and neglect of our military friends. You can help by singning Progressive Future's "Call For Consequences" petition in order to send a clear message to the Pentagon to stop looking the other way as our troops are mistreated. Then join Progressive Future's growing list of Americans calling for a new direction for America. We're campaigning to make sure, that in 2008, decision-makers hear from Americans who want to bring our troops home, ensure health care for all, rebuild our education system and take serious steps to tackle global warming.

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