My Friend's Son Killed in Iraq: By Contractors and the Military?

[maddezmom]

Last night, I was surprised and happy to find a photograph of my new friend Cheryl Harris at the top of The New York Times' web site. She was hugging her young son, Ryan Maseth, an Army sergeant who was dressed in his uniform and cap. The were both smiling broadly. A few months later he was dead. The military told her this past January that he had foolishly carried an electrical appliance into a shower in Baghdad.

That was a lie.

It turned out the fault was an improperly grounded water pump. With a little help from me, she found out that at least 10 other military personnel have been electrocuted in Iraq in recent years. Now she is suing the contractor KBR, though there is evidence that the military and the Defense Contracting Management Agency are also to blame for being lax in its own inspections. The Times article carries word of early alerts about this, which were ignored.

Cheryl Harris is quoted by the Times today, asking, "My biggest question is really, why would KBR do a safety inspection, know about the electrical problems and not alert the troops?" The article, still on the paper's home page, is headlined, "GIs Electrocuted in Iraq Despite '04 Alert on Wiring."

Just after I reported on the Maseth electrocution for Editor & Publisher back in January - no one else in the national media bothered to do so - Cheryl, who lives in western Pennsylvania, contacted me wondering how she could find out how many others had met his fate. She was especially concerned because - unmentioned in the Times story today - she has another son in Iraq and yet another in the military serving elsewhere. I directed her to some sources and we have corresponded often ever since then.

Of course, the Bush administration aptly catches plenty of blame in the Times article for outsourcing so much work in Iraq (directing billions to the KBRs of the world) and then not providing enough oversight.

more:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/my-friends-son-killed-in_b_100030.html

[Jim__]

1. Why does the military lie about this?

... A few months later he was dead. The military told her this past January that he had foolishly carried an electrical appliance into a shower in Baghdad.

That was a lie.

It's in the military's interest that the truth come out and that these contractors be forced to do their job right. Military lies about this just insures that more soldiers will die like this.

[rfranklin]

2. The top brass are all hoping for jobs with KBR...

or other companies that suck on the teats of our government. Plus they don't want to draw the wrath of the Bush junta. No, that wouldn't be prudent.

[fed-up]

3. tinfoil hat time-could any of these deaths have been murder? to shut someone up? nt

[1776Forever]

4. Absolutely horrid! How can they even try to defined this?

Just like the women who worked for KBR who had been raped can't seem to get the JD to listen to them!

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080421/houppert