KBR gave troops ice tainted with ‘traces of body fluids and putrefied remains.’

[marmar]

from ThinkProgress:



KBR gave troops ice tainted with ‘traces of body fluids and putrefied remains.’»

A former technician who worked for contracting company KBR in Iraq has filed a class-action lawsuit saying the company “exposed everyone at Joint Base Balad in Iraq to unsafe water, food and hazardous fumes from the burn pit there.” Joshua Eller’s suit includes particularly disturbing charges about KBR’s indifference to proper sanatization and the disposal of human remains:

The lawsuit also accuses KBR of shipping ice in mortuary trucks that “still had traces of body fluids and putrefied remains in them when they were loaded with ice. This ice was served to U.S. forces.”

Eller also accuses KBR of failing to maintain a medical incinerator at Joint Base Balad, which has been confirmed by two surgeons in interviews with Military Times about the Balad burn pit. Instead, according to the lawsuit and the physicians, medical waste, such as needles, amputated body parts and bloody bandages were burned in the open-air pit.

“Wild dogs in the area raided the burn pit and carried off human remains,” the lawsuit states. “The wild dogs could be seen roaming the base with body parts in their mouths, to the great distress of the U.S. forces.”

Just yesterday, 16 Indiana National Guard soldiers sued the scandal-ridden company for knowingly allowing them to be exposed to a toxic chemical while serving in Iraq.


http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/04/kbr-lawsuit-human-remains/

[drm604]

1. K&R

Disgusting. Do they sit around trying to top themselves in disgusting actions?

[dpbrown]

46. NO BID CONTRACT!!!

Yes, we love and adore Halliburton so much.

[Sub Atomic]

2. SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!!

:sarcasm: if it wasn't apparent..

[Bolo Boffin]

3. With subcontractors like this, who needs Al Qaeda in Iraq? n/t

[barbtries]

4. i want to see huge fines

until these bastards are broken, and criminal charges, and prison for them.

[tridim]

6. And then KBR demands their taxpayer bailout.

Can you imagine? :mad:

[barbtries]

19. not until you made me

ow

[Systematic Chaos]

5. Error: You've already recommended this thread.

Goddamn sons of bitches!

[Mabus]

7. Since you can't recommend it again

I'll recommend it for you. And, by way of this post, I'm giving this thread a kick.

[Systematic Chaos]

13. Thanks!

:toast:

[Mabus]

14. It was a selfish decision on my part.

This is a story that needs a wider audience. I was just using you and your post to K&R it. I was too shocked (but too surprised that KBR did this) to say anything else. ;)

[Ghost in the Machine]

23. Well, since you used *your* rec for Gentle Giant, I'll use mine for you....

... because hey, that's just the way we roll here at DU...

:hi:

[Mabus]

24. Is that paying it forward or backward?

I'm just glad this thread is getting some attention.

[Ghost in the Machine]

26. Forward, Backward, Sideways, All Around....

Does it really matter? It's all for a good cause... like giving this thread another :kick: so it can be seen by more people.

KBR (Kellog Brown & Root) has been supplying unstandard/unsafe materials ans supplies to our troops. They learned it from their Parent Company, Halliburton. Halliburton has supplied our troops with rotten food and unsanitary drinking water while they lined their pockets with profits from this war.

[Mabus]

57. Which is the reason I asked the dumbass question

to kick the thread for visibility. ;)

[PatrynXX]

37. arent they the ones that did the shocking?

Going in for a bit of a hot shower? No not hot water, hot as in wheres the hot wire?

[Mabus]

59. I don't know the particular incident to which you refer

but considering they got most of the contracts in Iraq, it would not surprise me at all.

[PatrynXX]

72. This wiring

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/middleeast/04electrocute.html

[Mabus]

79. That would be them, as the caption says

"At a 173rd Airborne base in Shin Kay, Afghanistan, in 2005, an outdoor, 200-ampere breaker panel, above, was uncovered and wired from the top. Its exposure to water made it unsafe, said Jeffrey Bliss, an electrician who worked for KBR, the military contractor."

[calimary]

49. I'm recommending it, too, Gentle Giant!

And bookmarking it.

And these bastards will be the first to tell US that WE aren't supporting the troops...

[old mark]

8. This should be part of Bush's legacy - wild dogs eating the

amputated limbs of US soldiers.

"Mission Accomplished", motherfucker.


mark

[Hydra]

9. I want this remembered whenever anyone talks about supporting our troops

Our troops are treated like shit and ordered to torture and murder civilians.

Our troops need to be brought home.

[EFerrari]

10. Amy had the lead lawyer for the Guards on today:

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/4/indiana_guardsmen_sue_kbr_over_chemical

Audio, video at link

[barbtries]

20. thanks for the heads up

watching now

[lpbk2713]

11. AWOL Monkey-Boy couldn't care less.

Just as long as he keeps getting his take from KBR/Halliburton.

[Sirveri]

12. Reminds me of my Navy days, black eggs and spoiled milk. YUM!

The best was offloading food stamped 'rejected from federal penetiary' and 'not fit for human consumption'. They would have made us eat it if we hadn't pulled into the shipyard for an overhaul. But subs are suppossed to suck, so just suck it up dumb nub.

[awoke_in_2003]

62. and they always brag

that bubbleheads get the best food

[Sirveri]

66. we do get prime rib and lobster on occasion. Plus fresh made to order

omlettes every breakfast cycle. So it's not all bad, it just sucks if you don't hit ports very often. It really sucks when you run out of soup and they start watering down the catsup.

Oh and two things can go on everything, that red hot sauce stuff, and ranch. Including drinks.

It's not all bad, but sometimes it is. Maybe my boat just sucked more than others though.

[awoke_in_2003]

78. I think

90 days underwater would suck, no matter the food

[Sirveri]

80. it's really not bad, though boomers are technically the only ones who do that.

fast attack can port a lot more places since they don't carry strat nukes. Also they occasionally surface the boat at night and you can go up on the sail. You're in the middle of NOWHERE though, so it's nothing but flat black nothingness and whatever is in the sky. During the day they'll pop the scope up to do message traffic and sometimes put that through the monitor in crews mess. Fun during war games. It really doesn't matter much being under water that long, it's just like being inside a normal boat like a destroyer, you can still smoke. Next to no privacy though. Beats life in the shipyards by far though, that sucks, absolutely no rhythm.

[The Doctor.]

15. What you won't hear on Fox News.

Next they'll be serving the troops soylent green.

[sixmile]

16. Kick for the Troops

looking for payback and who to pay it to...

[gratuitous]

17. If you didn't want to eat putrefied remains, you should have said so!

Gee whiz, the folks at KBR can't read minds! And now these so-called troops are all bent out of shape about this? I hope George W. Bush can issue one more Executive Order that immunizes poor KBR from this malicious and frivolous lawsuit.

[Vinca]

18. OMFG - that's sickening.

[MadMaddie]

21. This in itself should be a crime agains the United States

Not only fines but hard core prison sentences.

[acmavm]

45. It IS a crime.

[BreweryYardRat]

22. Find the people at KBR responsible for this, try them for treason, and hang them.

We're just going to keep seeing more of this blatant corruption until we really get tough with the military-industrial complex.

[EFerrari]

25. Kick

[Fumesucker]

27. Just wait, the bushies have been keeping a lid on a volcano of corruption..

This is far from the worst thing that has gone on.

I guarantee it.

[annm4peace]

28. Documentary movie Iraq for Sale

Is this what was described shown in Iraq for Sale ?

[Norrin Radd]

32. Yup. Among other things. Not new info at all.

[Norrin Radd]

33. KBR is an enemy of the state.

[NoSheep]

29. Naturally.

[Quantess]

30. Gross.

[ksimons]

31. profits before patriots - sad

[BelgianMadCow]

34. We knew that a couple years ago

but then again, DU is often ahead of the curve..glad to see it in print again.

[judasdisney]

35. Nobody's perfect.

It's a hard job bein' the president.

[Undercurrent]

36. I can not imagine the horror

of being a service member, and seeing wild dogs with human body parts! That could be his buddies foot or leg in it's mouth! And the smell of burning human flesh.

These are the kinds of experiences that later fold in, and bury a soldier in PTSD.

I'm so sick of the way our solders are treated. Inhumane. Unconscionable. And disgusting.

I was married to a Vietnam vet with PTSD. For years he suffered. Even with therapy, and medication he suffered. An image, sound, or smell, or an innocent word spoken in a certain way, and the long nights of terror would return.

[Luna_C_06]

44. Yeah, there's no way our men and women

can come back from that and not be a little messed-up. And how our we suppose to handle all those new cases of PTSD?

[PatrynXX]

38. Kinda reminds me of New York City pot holes

One of those Countdown stories about filling in pot holes laced with bone parts from 9/11

[sofa king]

39. This story is worth watching for another reason.

Every week in Iraq another couple of dozen bodies are discovered somewhere, usually Baghdad. They're being dumped by the truckload.

In five years, as far as I can tell, there has never been a story about a truck full of dead Iraqis being caught. Not a single one has been found broken down on the side of the road, or has been caught at an inspection checkpoint.

But right here we have documented evidence that KBR is hauling dead bodies around. Coincidence? I think not.

[Seldona]

75. That was the first question that entered my mind.

WTF is a corporation doing with trucks that were made for the use of hauling human remains? Who did those remains belong to? Where did they end up?

If I were Obama, I would tear this company apart into bits small enough to fit under a microscope. I have relatives there who went AFTER the Abu Graib pictures came out. They were horrified and wanted to better represent their country.

Not a single day goes by I don't worry for my brother and nephew.

[stlsaxman]

40. Disgusting.

[groovedaddy]

41. Our tax dollars at work! Makes me "proud" to be an American! NOT!!! n.t

[proReality]

42. Justice would be

to put this entire administration and their buddies down in the middle of some godforsaken place and treat them as they've treated our troops, then leave them there to rot.

[Dennis Donovan]

43. Recommeded - words fail me in describing my disgust.

:mad::grr:

[defendandprotect]

47. Capitalism is a killler ..... Privatization of military gas to be ended ---

[11 Bravo]

63. My 15 year old mows lawns for money, but I'm pretty sure he's never killed anyone.

[defendandprotect]

64. Edit to read: privatization of military HAS to end ...thankx

[11 Bravo]

65. In that case, I couldn't agree more!

:thumbsup:

[bread_and_roses]

68. Capitalism IS a killer - this is hardly the only example of dealing death for profit

under Capitalism. In fact, the instances of death and disease inflicted by the pursuit of profit is pretty endless. Death, destruction, disease, lies - anything for profit.

[lies and propaganda]

48. AGAIN?????????????????

I still have the images of the truck seared into my brain when this story came out a few months back..

is this the same story or did they do thsi atrocious shit again?

[RainDog]

50. motherfuckers

Cheney's motherfuckers.

I hope these soldiers are able to redistribute some of the income. KBR should be put out of biz. Cheney should be executed... tho not for this.

Time to make the assholes pay.

[AlbertCat]

53. 15 seconds after Cheney is officially a private citizen,

he will be on a Corporate Jet to Dubai. No extradition treaty. Halliburton is there.

[jberryhill]

51. At least they didn't charge extra for the "enhanced nutrient" water /nt

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

52. Dear KBR, F you. Sincerely, USA

[Veracious]

54. GRRRRRRRRRRR

Is there no end to the reckless arrogance - privatization is seriously fucked up when our own troops are treated with such carelessness and disdain. The death, horrid injuries and disfigurement painful outrage is the American soldiers reward for their service. Yeah yeah I know its a war and there's no water etc. But GD to hell! Get 2 trucks one for ice and one for other uses. AND GD to hell! Put somewire around your burn pits! IF you must have pits!

KBR = ANTIAMERICAN

[JackDragna]

55. Another in the long line of indignities faced by our troops..

..and perpetrated by the companies with whom their well-being is entrusted. The CEO's of KBR should be imprisoned and the assets of their company seized.

[ihavenobias]

56. K & R

[valerief]

58. The military seems to go out of its way to kill its soldiers, doesn't it? nt

[MasonJar]

60. Your VP and his cronies at work.

[JVS]

61. Yuck!

[Chorophyll]

67. I'm too late to recommend but I'll kick

This is despicable beyond belief.

[SpiralHawk]

69. Why do republicons HATE our sons and daughters in uniform?

Good God, is there no end to the shitty, sub-human treatment republicons and their war-profiteering cronies dish out to our soldiers?

Commander AWOL Bush, you and VP Dicki 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney bear direct RESPONSIBILITY for this.

[jeff30997]

70. I wouldn't be surprised to see an ad like that in the near future:

KBR:The proud makers of Soylent Green.:puke:

[wordpix]

71. OMG---NOW WILL CONGRESS INVESTIGATE CHENEY'S CORPORATION?

:shrug: I doubt it, it's business as usual :puke:

[Rhiannon12866]

73. I guess electrocuting them wasn't enough...

Horrible, just horrible... ;(

[shanti]

74. president-elect obama!

i beg you, please cancel this contract and never ever let them do business for our people again! this is appalling!

[shellgame26]

76. What a fucking nightmare

truly truly bizarre

[nc4bo]

77. Holy fuck, what were we doing over there??!! This is an outrage

It's so awful it makes my head hurt reading it.

Our media does us no favors by ignoring and enabling this nightmare.

Bush, Cheney, Halliburton/KBR, even M$M - need to brought up on criminal charges.

I knew nothing of this until I read this post, damn.