Those who read my posts know by now that I have consistently opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq—I have received a lot of grief for that—and that I passionately support our troops in harm’s way. I have been at the receiving end of a lot of skepticism for the latter.
I have strongly supported better benefits, medical care, mental care, and better recognition for our heroes’ valor and sacrifices (more Medals of Honor, appropriate recognition for the real injuries that are PTSD), etc. I have decried the lack of protective gear and IED-resistant armored vehicles our troops lacked during the early years of the war, and the alarming rise in homelessness, suicides, mental illness, divorces, alcohol and drug abuse, etc. among our returning troops and among our veterans.
I and many others have highlighted how unscrupulous, corrupt defense contractors have not only fleeced the American taxpayer, injured our nation’s reputation but, worse, how they have directly or indirectly harmed the troops they were supposed to support and protect.
The headlines say it all:
As Iraq death toll rises, so do war profits (Nov. 2003)
U.S. contractors in Iraq penalized—10 reconstruction firms have been charged with bid rigging, fraud, other allegations since 2000 (April 2004)
Poor Planning and Corruption Hobble Reconstruction of Iraq (Sept. 2005)
Report Says Iraq Contractor Is Hiding Data From U.S.—A Halliburton subsidiary that has been subjected to numerous investigations for billions of dollars in contracts it received for work in Iraq has systematically misused federal rules to withhold basic information on its practices from American officials… (Oct. 2006)
Crackdown on corrupt Iraq contracts yields record caseload— A federal crackdown on corruption involving U.S. contracts in Iraq produced a record number of criminal and administrative cases last month — including the largest bribery case (Aug 2007)
Blackwater Shootings ‘Murder,’ Iraq Says (Oct. 2007)
Iraq Spending Ignored Rules, Pentagon Says—An audit of $8.2 billion spent on contractors in Iraq found that almost none of the payments followed federal rules. (May 2008)
$23 BILLION lost or stolen in Iraq by American contractors and corrupt officials—“It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history.” (June 2008)
Former Iraq Contractor Pleads Guilty To Stealing Almost $40 Million In Army Fuel (Oct. 2008)
Report Finds Iraq Water Treatment Project to Be Late, Faulty and Over Budget—A huge American-financed wastewater treatment plant in the desert city of Fallujah…has tripled in cost from original plans to $100 million and has fallen about three years behind schedule… (Oct. 2008)
But, perhaps more ominously, recently we started hearing reports of our troops in Iraq being killed, not by IEDs, not by bullets, but while taking a shower, swimming in the pool, or power washing a vehicle.
As Arnold García Jr., editorial page editor of the Austin American Statesman, recently put it: “Of all the threats to life and limb that U.S. troops confront in Iraq and Afghanistan, taking a shower shouldn’t be one of them.”
Yet it was.
As García writes, “At least 16 U.S. troops in Iraq have died from electrical shock, three of them in the shower and one in a swimming pool since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The highest profile was the death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh. He died in January 2008 while taking a shower.”
After reading García’s column, I again searched and found the earlier headlines that said it all:
After Deaths, U.S. Inspects Electric Work Done in Iraq— The Pentagon has ordered electrical inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR, a major military contractor, after the electrocutions of several United States service members.(July 2008)
Pentagon Finds Company Violated Its Contract on Electrical Work in Iraq—The Pentagon has rebuked its largest contractor in Iraq after a series of inspections uncovered shoddy electrical work and other problems on American military bases there… (Oct. 2008)
And finally, on January 22, 2009:
Soldier’s Electrocution in Iraq Was Negligent Homicide, Army Concludes—Army investigators have concluded that a Green Beret electrocuted in a shower in his barracks in Iraq was the victim of negligent homicide in a case involving the largest American contractor in Iraq, according to a written statement from one investigator.
But none of the headlines above convey more graphically and more powerfully what should be the destiny of those who have caused so much shame to our nation and so much harm to our troops, than the title of Garcia’s column on this subject, “Marching toward hell.”
Please read García’s entire eye-opening column here.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.