from SLATE, 7/18/08: >The New York Times leads with word that the Pentagon has failed to acknowledge >how many people have been injured or killed due to faulty electrical work on >military bases in Iraq. The fact that private contractors have done shoddy >electrical work in Iraq was already known, but the paper got some internal >documents and says the problem is much worse than the Pentagon has admitted. >Even worse is that top military officials knew about the long-running problem >but failed to do anything about it. ...
> In just one six-month period that ran through January 2007, there were at > least 283 electrical fires that damaged U.S. facilities in Iraq, reports the > NYT. On top of that, soldiers had already died from an electrical fire in > 2006. And, as if that weren't enough, an Army survey released in February > 2007 said electrical problems were the most urgent noncombat safety issue for > soldiers in Iraq. The paper isn't able to come up with an exact number of > people who were injured or killed by the electrical problems, but by all > accounts the fact that it was a problem was well-known. Even KBR, the private > contractor that provides many basic services to U.S. troops, recognized > there's a "systematic problem" with electrical work on U.S. bases. Despite > all these warning signs, the Pentagon did little to address the issue until > the family of a Green Beret who was electrocuted earlier this year began to > push for answers and lawmakers started paying attention. < -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
