It's time to sit down and have a very frank talk about the contractors responsible for servicing our troops in Iraq. Thus far, America as a whole has generally looked the other way on a variety of issues, choosing quiet outrage when tens of billions of taxpayer dollars go missing, when reports of rape in companies in Iraq pop up, when reports of contractors playing football with bricks of hundred-dollar bills (more taxpayer money) show up, etc.
I could go on. I could, really! It's not that difficult. What's difficult is finding someone in the Republican Party outraged over this. When the Republicans were in charge, there was absolutely NO oversight of the billions of tax dollars spent on contractors in Iraq. Now, the Democratic Party is holding massive oversight investigations (thanks in no small part to Congressman Waxman--drop him an email and thank him if you have the chance), and the stories keep on coming.
Let's take a look at one of those contractors, KBR. This particular company--despite its numerous complaints--has just tripled its first-quarter profits.
Rape -- Multiple women who formerly worked at the company have come forward accusing co-workers of rape. Every woman involved has offered a similar experience: following the rape, they were told any reporting to any authority would result in immediate termination. The justice department is NOT pursuing the investigation.
Electrocution of Troops -- Democratic chariman Henry Waxman is currently investigating whether the accidental electrocution of troops could have been avoided. According to a recent article by the New York Times, which found massive evidence suggesting KBR was intentionally cutting corners, there's good reason to believe this tragedy could have easily been avoided: "One electrician warned his KBR bosses in his 2005 letter of resignation that unsafe electrical work was “a disaster waiting to happen.”
Another said he witnessed an American soldier in Afghanistan receiving
a potentially lethal shock. A third provided e-mail messages and other
documents showing that he had complained to KBR and the
government that logs were created to make it appear that nonexistent
electrical safety systems were properly functioning."
Stealing -- A former KBR employee was promoted after she was caught stealing from taxpayers. According to sworn testimony by two former co-workers, this was a regular occurrence. One even allegedly went so far as to melt down gold to make cowboy boots.
Tax dodging -- More than $500 million dollars in taxes has been saved by KBR thanks to very crafty, very devious tax-dodging schemes that involve off-shore shell companies.
Contaminated Water -- the Pentagon dismissed this report of KBR failing to provide safe water to troops in Iraq, suggesting that the water in Iraq is tainted to begin with and everyone should be drinking bottled water. There's only one problem: this report deals mainly with water used for cleaning clothes and bathing, and KBR's unwillingness to even provide this has resulted in numerous problems.
This is just one of the contractors in Iraq taking hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money every year. Why was there no oversight before the Democrats took control of Congress, despite that fact that billions of dollars went missing and multiple reports of contractor abuses were already being brought forward?
Here's a link for Congressman Waxman's page. Keep an eye on it. He's one of the best representatives we have in Congress, and he's doing an excellent job despite the stonewalling of every Bush administration official in Washington.
