A Requiem for KBR and Blackwater

Incompetence knows no barriers of time or place.
-- Laurence J. Peter, Why Things Go Wrong: The Peter Principle Revisited

KBR's
Heather Browne just got some news. It wasn't good. Blackwater just got
some news. It wasn't good. Both probably rue the day George Bush walked
out of the White House and Dick Cheney was wheeled away. They would
never have stood for what's happened to these faithful servants since
they left town.

KBR has done more things wrong
in Iraq than most people can hope to keep track of but not so many that
George and Dick couldn't find it in their hearts to forgive it its
errant ways. KBR had a food service contract to feed the troops in Iraq
and charged millions for food it never served. It was paid $75.7
million for building a pipeline it didn't build. It failed to deliver
safe water for hygiene uses. Since Mr. Bush invaded Iraq KBR has been
paid more than $40 billion and has 40,000 employees in Iraq. Iraq has
been a gold mine for the company and a black hole for U.S. taxpayers.

The
last time Heather Browne was in the news was when she was discussing
KBR's electrical work in Iraq. One of the places KBR worked was
Radwaniya Palace Complex. (RPC) where it was engaged in repairing and
upgrading the buildings. Among other things, it was responsible for
upgrading the electrical work in that complex. In February 2007 KBR
notified the Defense Contract Management Agency that it had safety
concerns about one of the buildings in the complex that was housing the
Fifth Special Forces Group. Specifically it was worried about the
grounding and wiring in one of the buildings. Its concern did not
translate into action by either it or the Pentagon. Instead it
translated into the death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a Green Beret from
Pennsylvania. On January 2, 2009, he started to take a shower and was
electrocuted instead.

Ingrid Harrison, an official with the Defense Contract Management Agencytold the New York Times
that: "KBR has been at RPC for over four years and was fully aware of
the safety hazards, violations and concerns regarding the soldiers'
housing." She said KBR "chose to ignore the known unsafe conditions."
Electricians formerly employed by KBR said their repeated warning to
superiors about unsafe electrical conditions were ignored. KBR told CNN
that its contract did not require "fixing potential hazards." A
potential electrical problem would only demonstrate its potential when
it caused a fire or someone was electrocuted. There were 283 fires
between August 2006 and January 2007 and 6 electrocutions including
that of Sergeant Maseth.

Heather Browne did not agree that KBR was in any way responsible for Sgt. Maseth's death. She said
the company found no link between its work and the electrocutions.
She's now heard from an official source that her analysis was wanting.
January 23, 2009, it was reported that Sgt. Maseth's death was not an
accident. On December 16, 2008, an army investigator sent Sgt. Maseth's
mother an e-mail in which she said "credible information" had been
discovered that KBR's negligence and that of two of its supervisors led to her
son's death. She said that the army had changed the cause of death from
"accidental" to "negligent homicide" for purposes of the ongoing
investigation. Heather Browne was unimpressed. She said
that "KBR's investigation has produced no evidence that KBR was
responsible for Sergeant' Maseth's death. We have cooperated fully with
all government agencies investigating this matter and will do so in the
future." KBR will be given an opportunity to cooperate fully in the
criminal trial of its employees.

Blackwater didn't
electrocute anyone. A congressional report found that Blackwater guards
were involved in almost 200 shootings in Iraq between 2005 and 2007.
According to the Washington Post,
on December 24, 2006, a drunk guard shot a guard who worked for Iraqi
Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi. In September 2007 its guards were
involved in a shooting spree that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. Five of
the guards have been charged with manslaughter in the United States and
have pleaded not guilty. According to the New York Times,
following the September 2007 shooting Prime Minister Nuri Kamal
al-Maliki was upset and demanded that Blackwater leave the country.
Although as Prime Minister he thought he had some authority George Bush
disagreed and showed his disagreement by extending Blackwater's
contract for another year.

George and Dick have left
Washington and Blackwater will soon leave Iraq. In explaining why
Blackwater is being forced to leave Iraq, Alaa Al-Taia, an Interior
Ministry official said: "There are many marks against this company,
specifically that they have a bad history and have been involved in the
killing of so many civilians." Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for
Blackwater, told the Washington Post that Blackwater had received no
official notification of the future of the company's work in Iraq.
She'll probably be getting it in the not too distant future.