Wiring still fatally flawed in Iraq

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Lawmakers looking into the electrocutions of 16 people at American facilities in Iraq expressed frustration yesterday with the lack of accountability among the parties involved and voiced concern that the dangers have not been eliminated.

"There was no shortage of warnings about the electrical dangers in Iraq, just a shortage of will to do right by our troops," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is conducting hearings in Washington.

Though electrical problems in facilities in Iraq have been widely acknowledged, little action has been taken by the Pentagon leadership or Houston-based contractor KBR, Mr. Waxman said during yesterday's hearing.

As of July 10, there have been 16 deaths -- 10 soldiers, five Marines and a contract worker for the Defense Department. One victim, Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Shaler, was electrocuted Jan. 2 while taking a shower, 11 months after KBR inspectors confirmed wiring problems at his Army barracks in Iraq.

His mother, Cheryl Harris of Cranberry, has filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania against KBR over her son's death and has been pushing lawmakers and the Pentagon to investigate and correct the problems.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08213/900790-85.stm

---

Cheryl Harris with her son, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth of Shaler, who was electrocuted Jan. 2.

[nc4bo]

1. This was also on NBC evening news last night and I was pissed..

Of course my sympathy goes to the families of these soldiers.

This has been going on for a long, long time. Nothing was done about it and I'm actually surprised that it finally got some airplay in the M$M.

The Army, Bush Administration and KBR knew about it.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=4489783&page=2

He worked with Waxman, whose House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an investigation into the deaths by accidental electrocution.

"It's an amazing story," Altmire says. "When you hear that in 2004, the Army themselves saw it as a problem and did nothing about it and in 2007 KBR identified it as a problem. We need to find out why nothing was done."

Altmire was referring to a 2004 Army safety publication article titled ""Electrocution: The Unexpected Killer," which warned that improper grounding of electrical wires was a "serious threat" for soldiers in Iraq.

The article was prompted by the deaths of five soldiers from accidental electrocution, including one that eerily foreshadowed Maseth's death:

Two weeks after one soldier was killed and another injured from an electrical current that charged a swimming pool in May 2004, the article says "another soldier was found dead, lying on a shower room floor with burn marks on his body. The apparent cause was electricity that traveled from the water heater through the metal pipes to the showerhead. Again, improper grounding of electrical systems is the probable cause of this soldier's death."

What angers me the more than the negligence resulting in death but the failure of all involved to do anything about it.

The M$M also fails, as usual, to play connect-the-dots. Halliburton/KBR/Dick Cheney (and others) connection.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/view/.

My head hurts literally, just thinking about how deep this goes.

[alfredo]

2. Call your congress critter, write letters to the editor, pass this story on.