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| Iraq |
| Shocking Development: Contractors Hired Foreigners |
| 2008-07-18 |
| Inferior electrical work by private contractors on U.S. military bases in Iraq is more widespread than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to a published report. Aha! A published report! That's at least a step above 'an unnamed source.' A Senate panel investigating the electrocutions of Americans on bases in Iraq was told last week by former KBR Inc. electricians Couldn't even speak English, is the way it was reported on the radio this morning.The Pentagon has said 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq since September 2003. It has ordered Houston-based KBR to inspect all the facilities it maintains in Iraq for electrical hazards. The New York Times During just one six-month period - August 2006 through January 2007 - at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military's largest dining hall in the country, according to the documents obtained by the Times. In a country where the grid is soooo reliable; how shocking! An Army survey issued in February 2007 said electrical problems were the most urgent noncombat safety hazard for soldiers in Iraq. More so than up-armored Humvees rolling over into canals? KBR, which is responsible for providing basic services, including housing, for American troops in Iraq, said last week that its investigation had not turned up evidence of a link between its work and the electrocutions. The Army report, however, said KBR did its own study and found a "systemic problem" with electrical work, according to the Times. Quagmire! Short circuits! |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #8 Lest we fergit > WOT > GLOBAL AFL-CIO, etal. = WAR FOR GLOBAL UNIONISM/UNIONIZATION, among other premises. D *** NG IT, DARE "LUNAR-SPACE UNIONS"??? All together now, MMMUUUUULLLLTTTIIIPPPAASSSS...! HMMMMM, HMMMMM, in my own weird way, I'm wondering what JIMBO HOFFA would think. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-07-18 20:08 |
| #7 Sounds like disgruntled private contractors lost out on an opportunity to gouge the government to allow training of locals More like KBR got around the union-only rule. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-07-18 14:48 |
| #6 Why are we worried about wiring defects? According to Obama, we won't be staying long enough for it to matter. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-07-18 12:42 |
| #5 (discovered because molten metal was sizzling as it hit the water in the flooded basement.) And he sed it was a feature. :( |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-07-18 12:26 |
| #4 My thoughts, exactly, James. Sounds like disgruntled private contractors lost out on an opportunity to gouge the government to allow training of locals. |
| Posted by: Danielle 2008-07-18 11:15 |
| #3 One of the requirements for those contracts in Iraq was the hiring of Iraqis. Are those the foreigners they are talking about? I wouldn't wipe my butt with this report. |
| Posted by: James Carville 2008-07-18 10:56 |
| #2 Several times in the past I have had to go behind and clean up wiring mistakes made by 'professional' (lisenced, union) electricians right here in the USA. Little things, like finding three prong outlets on ungrounded wires, copper service bus bars and connectors on aluminum wires - and loose at that (discovered because molten metal was sizzling as it hit the water in the flooded basement.) Etc. So not sure 'foreign' or 'non-English-speaking' is the whole problem. |
| Posted by: Menhaden S 2008-07-18 08:11 |
| #1 Does this include the air-guard guys who keep getting caught by low-hanging powerlines from the tangles of freelance electrical infrastructure over public throughways? Or is that why the study only goes back to September 2003? Because I seem to remember one of our local Iraq losses was killed in that fashion during the original invasion. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2008-07-18 07:37 |