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US Army Paid Bonuses to KBR Despite Questions

Wednesday 20 May 2009

by: Thomas Ferraro  |  Reuters

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Pfc. Justin Shults displays his burn wounds. Shults was electrocuted in a shower facility in Iraq, and is now suing KBR. (Photo: AP)

    Washington - The U.S. Army paid "tens of millions of dollars in bonuses" to KBR Inc, its biggest contractor in Iraq, even after it concluded the firm's electrical work had put U.S. soldiers at risk, according to a source close to a U.S. congressional investigation.

    The Senate Democratic Policy Committee plans to hold a hearing on Wednesday to examine KBR's operations in Iraq, and question why the Army rewarded the Houston-based company.

    The panel says KBR has been linked to at least two, and as many as five, electrocution deaths of U.S. soldiers and contractors in Iraq due to "shoddy work."

    Investigators believe hundreds of other soldiers may have received electrical shocks, the source added. The Army is investigating.

    The company denies responsibility for any of the electrocutions, saying it is proud of its work and that its employees make great sacrifices to get the job done.

    KBR was part of Halliburton Co until two years ago. Former Vice President Dick Cheney served as Halliburton's chief executive from 1995 to 2000, when he became George Bush's running mate.

    During the Bush administration, some critics claimed Cheney's deferred compensation from the company represented a conflict of interest and questioned Halliburton's winning of lucrative government contracts in Iraq.

    Military reports have criticized KBR's work in Iraq in recent years. Yet afterward, the company received "tens of millions of dollars in bonuses," said the source, who declined to be identified.

    "We want to know why," the source said.

    The military was invited to send a witness to testify at Wednesday's hearing, but the committee agreed to let it submit a written statement instead, the source said. Witnesses who are expected to attend include a former KBR electrician.

    On Tuesday, the Army had no immediate comment when asked about the bonuses.

    Threat of Fire

    A September 30, 2008, letter to KBR from an officer in the Defense Department's Defense Contract Management Agency had harsh words for the company.

    "We cannot overemphasize the significance of the lack of sustained electrical support services being provided by KBR in Iraq to maintain the minimum life, health and safety standards in support of our warfighters," wrote Captain David Graff, an agency commander.

    A February 2007 report by the agency also raised concerns about KBR and its subcontractors in Iraq -- while acknowledging the difficulty of working in a war environment.

    "Primary safety threat, theater wide, is fire due to the inferior 220 electrical fixtures found throughout Iraq," it said. "Improper installation, substandard equipment purchases (such as light fixtures) and heavy usage appears to be the three primary causes of these fires."

    U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns about the U.S. military's increased use of private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan and have said KBR and other companies should be held accountable.

    KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said, "KBR remains proud of the work it performs in Iraq."

    "We remain committed to engaging in a transparent and more importantly, a fact-based dialogue on this issue while pledging continued full cooperation and support to the military."

    The Senate Democratic Policy Committee is the research arm of the Senate Democratic leadership and often conducts investigations of its own.

    -----------

    (Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

  

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Comments

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K B R,... K G B, we have

 Thu, 05/21/2009 - 15:59 — albert Dussault (not verified)
K B R,... K G B, we have become a tortured nation...we have abandoned all sense of morality and ethics and we wrapp this around, they are too big to fall. Tricky Dick Cheney is a rascal, he has manipulated the public image of his Halliburton firm and he thinks he is too big to fall...he continues to live in the limelight and continues to bully the nation inro believing that he has done good for the country... He needs to be investigated...But is he too big to be investigated, will he instead need a moral bailout.

So it' not just corporate

 Thu, 05/21/2009 - 18:00 — Margo (not verified)
So it' not just corporate bonuses. Our tax money is tossed around with such abandon by the U.S.Army now. Does this make anyone else sick? While so many Americans are out of work, out of health care, out of hope and depleted, bonuses are given even by the armed services, and for failed jobs. The bottom line that almost no one will print is that war is a money-making industry. That's why we have it. It has nothing to do with idealism or democracy or even protecting our borders. It is a money making industry. And too many people in our country fail to get that. They keep supporting it. I attended a seminar given by a man in charge of the contracts in Iraq. Descriptions of literally mailbags of cash, wheelbarrows of cash being given to various contractors pulled the scales from my eyes. Support peace instead. Maybe people will have real jobs that bring actual satisfaction and good to the world. The only way to do away with "terror" is to make sure that all humans are fed, clothed and housed, and through leading by example. The example our country is providing will just grow the terror industry.

The most efficient way to

 Thu, 05/21/2009 - 18:31 — Babygoat (not verified)
The most efficient way to rule a country is to own a "Private Army", give them some power to supply our forces, issue them weapons, maybe even have them train the cooperative foreign troops ...Oh, yes, and pay them higher earning capacity AND keep them "unaccountable" for any of their actions!.What I'm getting at is KBR/Haliburton has been put in a position that a "coup" against our military is the only action that has not been taken YET.... Murderers, thieves, incompetents, who rape and torture. Many of them were recruited out of third world countries that fought against indigenous peoples trying to survive under dictatorships If Obama wants a "change" from the previous administration....I suggest that he replay his speeches when he was running for office! And this time listen to himself. WE DO NOT WANT OR NEED ANOTHER BUSH/CHANEY, UNLESS HE WANTS TO BE AN ACCOMPLICE TO AN ILLEGAL-OCCUPATION AND CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. If he continues on the path he's going, we will be overthrown and our country will be gone. All of our laws, our morals, our integrity, they already have our money...By the way I am a Viet-Nam era Vet.

Mercenaries aka contractors

 Thu, 05/21/2009 - 20:57 — Anonymous (not verified)
Mercenaries aka contractors are profiteers as Margo said. After all the hoopla and decals declaring "Support Our Troops," for the DOD to award KBR with bonuses and a new contract is an affront to the injured and electrocuted troops. to the taxpayers whose money they are spending--and to common sense. Who is paying for the tens of thousands of electrical connections that had to be redone when this catastrophe was discovered? It should have been KBR, but the MSM failed to say. War is the most wasteful, stupid, destructive enterprise that the so-called most intelligent species indulges in!

Perhaps it's time to reboot

 Thu, 05/21/2009 - 23:36 — Anonymous (not verified)
Perhaps it's time to reboot the military-industrial complex. The more one looks back at the Bush Cheney years the more it looks like a last ditch effort to loot our treasury for big Oil, Halliburton/KBR and Wall Street. I think they may have known the end was near, or at least we hope it was near. I just keep recalling how Kenny Boy Lay wanted desperately to be Secretary of the Treasury. Anywhere there's a pot of public money to suck up,you'll find Republicans. What shockingly bad character they collectively have, and how foolish people were ever to empower them.

It is so sad to see a

 Fri, 05/22/2009 - 02:35 — An (not verified)
It is so sad to see a country which had so much hope at its inception decay into a political morass. Our founding fathers must be turning in their graves as they see all their hard work in fighting fro independence, writing a fair constitution, setting up a representative government, setting forth bravely to establish a government of the people, by the people and for the people, all their dreams vanishing from this earth.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! The

 Fri, 05/22/2009 - 12:46 — jstuv (not verified)
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! The Bush/Chaney Administration was able to succeed where Osama bin Laden failed. Should the crimes of treason, by the Bush/Chaney Administration, be overlooked, then these crimes of high treason will be repeated in future administrations. The Allies conducted the Nürenberg Trials (in 1945 to 1949) for several reasons: A) To make aware that these crimes were actually committed, B) To examine HOW these crimes were able to be committed, C) Who committed these crimes and D) To punish the criminals. Should the guilty not be punished, then, their Criminal Acts would be absolved and could easily be repeated. There would not be any justice. “The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government.” Should the Bush/Chaney Administration (alleged) criminals not be prosecuted, not be brought to trial and not found guilty, then, like the Ronald Reagan Republican group, they will be glorified, deified and praised. With ALL the evidence available: Eyewitnesses, Documents, Dead Bodies, Remnants of Death Camps, Newsreel clips, piles of clothes, piles of shoes, piles of hair, piles of eyeglasses, piles of gold teeth –COLD HARD EVIDENCE-, there are Holocaust Deniers being celebrated, glorified and believed. So, too, these (alleged) criminals will be praised and glorified for future generations. We will have not have learned from history –and the American society will repeat this debacle.