PITTSBURGH, July 1, 2008
U.S. Electrocution Deaths In Iraq Probed
13 Americans Electrocuted Since 2003; Contractor Ordered To Inspect Facilities
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Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said he was told the Pentagon has directed KBR to inspect all maintained facilities in Iraq where no prior inspection was performed and to "perform life, health and safety operations" on all other maintained buildings and make needed repairs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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The military had acknowledged that 12 Americans died in Iraq from accidental electrocution. Sen. Bob Casey said he learned last week from Petraeus that 10 soldiers, one Marine and two private contractors died. Casey said he was not given details on the 13th fatality.
"At least one death is on the record that wasn't on the record before," Casey told The Associated Press on Monday. "It's also very troubling that it takes this long to get this type of information from the Department of Defense."
Petraeus submitted his comments in writing last week to Casey because the Democratic senator's allotted time to question Petraeus before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April had elapsed.
Two electrocutions occurred at different housing facilities and involved soldiers taking showers, Petraeus told Casey.
One of the soldiers killed was Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, who died Jan. 2 in his barracks in Baghdad. An Army criminal probe blamed improper grounding of an electric pump that supplied water to the building. Maseth was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, an Army post straddling the Kentucky-Tennessee line.
Maseth's family has sued KBR Inc., the Houston-based contractor responsible for maintaining Maseth's barracks.
Petraeus said KBR received $3.2 million for maintenance services as part of a February 2007 contract modification. According to Petraeus, KBR had previously provided "only limited technical inspections" at Maseth's barracks.
Inspections performed Feb. 10, 2007, "revealed no deficiencies related to the water pump contributing to Maseth's death but did indicate other grounding issues," Petraeus said.
Casey said he was told the Pentagon has directed KBR to inspect all maintained facilities in Iraq where no prior inspection was performed and to "perform life, health and safety operations" on all other maintained buildings and make needed repairs.
"It's especially troubling that a contract modification didn't prevent (Maseth's death) from happening," Casey said. "Taking a shower should not be an act for which you risk your life."
In a statement Monday, KBR said it is fully cooperating with the government and has "found no evidence of a link between the work it has been tasked to perform and the reported electrical safety issues."
The Department of Defense Inspector General is investigating the deaths, as is the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Casey also wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates this month seeking specifics on base inspections and repairs.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Poor choice of words.
Two electrocutions occurred at different housing facilities and involved soldiers taking showers, Petraeus told Casey.
Republicans hate Regulations
MORE PROOF THE GOP HATES AMERICANS THEY JUST WON''T ADMIT IT!
KBR Inc., the Houston-based contractor responsible for maintaining Maseth''s barracks.
Republicans are going to be p i s s e d off they''ll say let the free markets work themselves out.
Just another story of Cheney''s KBR Inc. profiting from dead Americans.
Nothing new here.
KBR was AWARE of the "problem" YEARS AGO.
CORPORATE CORRUPTION know NO BOUNDS unless reined in by the threat of CONTRACT (Profit) LOSS!
From a PREVIOUS article I''ve read on this KBR used the EXCUSE that they "SUBCONTRACTED" the crucial wiring/plumbing!
My guess is that they hired a "LOW BIDDER" called Al Queda to do the installation!!!
Pretty SICK that KBR IS AIDING AL QUEDA in MURDERING OUR TROOPS!!!
Interesting how the showers were safe for quite some time since it was installed and then all of sudden the grounding was incorrect. That is something that''d be noticeable the first time the showers were turned on.
This is not a random occurrence.
This is not a random occurrence.
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Actually, yes is is. Improper grounding of a water pump will cause no detectable problems until much later, when the electrical insulation of the pump deteriorates from age and it starts conducting electricity to the water.
The problem is - the improper grounding was present from installation, and NOBODY INSPECTED IT PROPERLY or CORRECTED THE IMPROPER WIRING.
What are they waiting for??
Maybe Bush or Cheney will use one on their next visit.
Disgusting!
There''s a DVD IRAQ FOR SALE. If you really want to get PO''d watch that.
There is no reason these people should be electrocuted
unless of course KBR and pals are hiring idiots who are not QUALIFIED ELECTRICIANS. Grounding and Bonding is a standard practice that obviously is not being followed. This is disgusting. Have they never heard of the National Electrical Code? "Of course they''ll say but we are following the Iraqi codes"
Geeze where are their brains!
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Hey wait a minute, I thought KBR is the government.
Posted by newsjunky5
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How come I''m not surprised at your admission?
Where is the story here?
The ''Do-Nothing Democrat Congress'' trying to fool us into believing that they are actually earning their paychecks.
What the Democrat Congress has accomplished:
1. Gasoline almost doubling in price since they took over in Jan 2007 (gas only rose by $0.63 in the previous six years).
2. The Stock Market is now lower than in 2006, and still falling.
3. More people are loosing or are in peril of loosing their homes.
4. Consumer Confidence is down and is forecast to keep dropping.
5. Baseball still has a steroid problem.
6. We are still in Iraq.
how many construction workers have been electricuted in the US since 2003?
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These aren''t construction workers. These are guys who went to take a shower and came back dead. They got dead because of an improperly wired water pump.
Proper wiring practices are designed to PREVENT this from happening. Somebody cut corners on these projects, and now people are getting killed by it.
1. Gasoline is more than 4 times the price prior to the Bush administration took over.
2. The Stock Market is now lower than in 2006, and still falling. Because the big money is speculating on oil futures driving oil prices to levels so high the Saudis have stated there is no reason for oil prices to be so high.
3. More people are loosing or are in peril of loosing their homes. And this is thanks to the lack of regulation of the mortgage industry. An almost mirror of the collapse of the banking industry which occurred during a prior Republican administration. The Bush family benefited from that quite handsomely as one of the Bush brothers was in the banking business at the time.
4. Consumer Confidence is down and is forecast to keep dropping. And now the top 1% of the rich own more money than the bottom 90% of Americans, thanks to corporations rewarding even failing executives with huge bonuses while giving such insignificant raises to their working stiffs that the raises down even keep up with inflation.
5. Baseball still has a steroid problem. And Baseball had that problem when G.W. Bush was a co-owner of a baseball team.
6. We are still in Iraq. And thinking about going into Iran.
The republicans still have quite a bit of control of congress...
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Blah, blah, blah. NEITHER of you gets it.
The Dems and Reps are WORKING TOGETHER to put on a farce of PRETENDING do "do something" while making sure NOTHING REALLY GETS DONE.
The recent failure to stop record oil company profits was a classic example. One side submits a "poison pill" proposal, KNOWING the other side can''t accept it. Then the other side predictably turns it down. WHO''S FAULT IS IT, THE ONE WHO TURNED IT DOWN OR THE ONE WHO ARRANGED FOR IT TO BE TURNED DOWN?
It takes two to lie. One to tell it, and the other to believe it. That''s what Congress is doing.
It''s not the Democrats. It''s not the Republicans. It''s
SIXTEEN YEARS OF BABY BOOMERS.
Slick Willy is a Boomer. Dubya is a Boomer. Hillary is a Boomer. Joseph Hazelwood is a Boomer. 60% of Congress are Boomers.
I THINK THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING...
Posted by notblue at 05:15 PM : Jul 01, 2008
Only if you tell us how many women in America said they had sexxxx against their will (raped) vs wives who say they had sexxx when they did not feel like it. You are comparing apples to oranges.
it was not simply construction workers who were killed but soldiers taking showers. Now, you should ask how many people were electrocuted in showers in recently built homes in America--where no use of electronics were involved. Because that would be more the point--either that--or try shutting up and stopping the poor Republican Whinefest.
Posted by notblue at 05:15 PM : Jul 01, 2008
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Typical right-wing fuzzy math. Let''s see. How many construction workers do you think were electricuted taking a shower in their homes. I swear that if our soldiers were starving to death, Republicans would somehow defend the policy. The Bush administration is evil and so is anyone who supports it.
APPROVED and LEGALIZED MURDER
The State Department - The CIA - The FBI
The Veterans Administration - (no bid) Government Contractors
The have been doing it for DECADES
Not if anyone has been Charged or Convicted
APPROVED and LEGAL MURDER
Common and Normal - Every day Work Routine of :
The Federal Employee
Typical - Routine - Work Morals and Ethics of the Federal Employee
Corruption - Immorality - Perversion of Power and Authority
Federal Employees are always - Running Amuck
NO real Supervision - NO real Management
Federal Employees - Have NEVER been in Competition - For their Jobs
They don''t know how to Work
They don''t know how to make Production
The Federal Employee _ Will Not Say : "NO" To a CRIMINAL Order
The Criminal Protection given by :
The Federal and State Civil Service System Needs to be Eradicated
Nepotism and Patronization - The Hallmark of the Federal Employee
Federal - Nepotism and Patronization - Always Results in :
APPROVED and LEGALIZED MURDER
RINOpublicans: The American Soldier is a Fire and Forget Weapon.
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Uninformed NASCAR Bumpkins exercise free speech! get your headlines here!
KBR joins Bush-patronaged Halliburton in defying the law and brazenly defrauding taxpayers.
Not to mention demonstrating its utter disregard for the security and safety of American troops. Both KBR and Halliburton qualify as anti-American groups, working to profit at the expense and harm of the American people.
As a measure of how lax standards of accountability have become in the Bush term, the US Department of State continues to employ both firms around the world.
State ought to take a second look at the records of both firms-- and review its own incompetent management, as well.
I guess this is in keeping with the policy of the current administration- it''s the Sgt Shultz policy of accountability : They know nothing, they say nothing , they are responsible for nothing. The soldiers died of a mysterious electron infection for which nothing on earth could be done save pray harder.
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by ioweign
July 4, 2008 10:02 AM PDT
- Can anyway tell me how many construction workers have been electricuted in the US since 2003? That should put some perspective on this headline and clarify if it is part of the CBS leftwing central agenda or a valid meanigful news story and not the typical crapp for the 67 percenters.
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Reply to this comment
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See all 34 CommentsPosted by notblue at 05:15 PM : Jul 01, 2008
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Typical right-wing fuzzy math. Let''s see. How many construction workers do you think were electricuted taking a shower in their homes. I swear that if our soldiers were starving to death, Republicans would somehow defend the policy. The Bush administration is evil and so is anyone who supports it.
Posted by kansas1946 at 07:03 PM : Jul 01, 2008
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This is the same party that tried to short changed kids nutrition claiming ketchup was a vegetable in the 80''s. If it had been Halliburton serving kids lunches they would have had a "No Bid Contract" and charged extra for the ketchup and/or mustard...
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Enjoy...
From Wikipedia:
The ketchup as a vegetable controversy or ketchupgate refers to a proposed United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Drug Administration directive, early in the administration of Ronald Reagan, that would have reclassified ketchup and pickle relish from condiments to a vegetable, allowing public schools to cut out a serving of cooked or fresh vegetable from hot lunch program child-nutrition requirements.