KBR water sickening our troops in Iraq

I interrupt this presidential race to bring attention to the type of thing that we can all agree is what we're fighting to prevent: yet another abuse of our troops by Dick Cheney's homeboys at KBR.

As if covering up the gang-rape of its female employees and bilking taxpayers out of millions of dollars wasn't enough--not that the government seems to mind--now comes word that our loyal, dedicated, patriotic fellows at KBR are sickening US troops serving overseas in combat zones!

More below.

From the article:

Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says.

A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I were running the government of the United States, and a company I had contracts with to supply and serve our troops in a war zone had been, as discussed above, defrauding my government, covering up acts of sheer brutality against its female employees, and sickening our troops through not bothering to actually make sure that their bathing and laundry water was remotely safe, I would damn well make sure that that company never had anything to do with a single soldier, sailor, airman or marine of the United States Armed Forces ever again.

But this being the Bush administration, I doubt we'll see any accountability.  But what's even worse--it's not that KBR didn't know about the problem--they knew about it, and refused to tell the soldiers and other camp residents about the problem.

Now, it's worth pointing out that the allegations aren't coming from the military or from some watchdog group--they're coming from KBR/Halliburton employees!

The KBR sites were Camp Ar Ramadi, Camp Q-West and Camp Victory. The military sites were Logistics Support Area Anaconda and Camp Ali.

The inspector general's study confirmed AP reports on the contaminated water in early 2006 and provided additional details on the scope of the problem at the Iraq bases. In January that year, interviews and internal company documents disclosed the problems at Ar Ramadi and showed that KBR employees could not get the company to inform base residents.

So the question is, how did this come about?  Simply put, because KBR--which is apparently being paid untold amounts to supply clean water to our troops--couldn't be bothered to actually assemble the necessary equipment, and just relied on military facilities.  Of course, that raises the question of exactly what it is they were being paid to do.

The report said the event at Ar Ramadi could have been prevented if KBR's reverse osmosis units on the site had been assembled, instead of relying on the military's water production facilities.

Halliburton is the oil services conglomerate that Cheney once led. Congressional Democrats long have complained that KBR has benefited from its former ties to Cheney.

And how does Halliburton/KBR respond?  Exactly as you'd expect them to: by disputing the claims of their own employees.

Halliburton Co., then KBR's parent company, disputed the allegations even though they were made by its own employees and documented in company e-mails. In March 2006, the AP obtained an internal Halliburton report that, in one instance, the company missed contamination that could have caused "mass sickness or death" at Ar Ramadi.

Yes, you read that right: MASS SICKNESS OR DEATH among our military community in Iraq.

And at least one Democrat is fighting back--Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND):

North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, who has led Democratic inquiries into contracting abuses in Iraq, said the inspector general has backed up what those earlier hearings uncovered. "KBR was not doing its job" and U.S. forces had water that did not meet Army standards, Dorgan said.

"I think it's outrageous that KBR tried to deny that there was a problem, especially when it turned out that there were dozens of U.S. troops reporting water-related illnesses," he said.

Yes, Senator Dorgan, I agree with you.  Outrageous.  Just like everything else KBR and Halliburton have done in Iraq.  And yet, will anything ever come of it?  See I think that not caring about whether our soldiers fall sick and die of water-borne illnesses while they're trying to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan rises not just to the point of criminal negligence, but outright treason against the United States.