CBS: KBR knowingly exposed troops to toxic dust
David Edwards and Muriel Kane @ rawstory.comPublished: Tuesday December 23, 2008A CBS News investigation has obtained evidence that a subsidiary of Halliburton, the giant energy company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, knowingly exposed United States soldiers to toxic materials in Iraq.CBS interviewed Commander James Gentry of the Indiana National Guard, who is dying of a rare form of lung cancer that he believes is the result of "months of inhaling hexavalent chromium" after his battalion was assigned in April 2003 to protect contractors from Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) working in Iraq at a local water plant. Other members of his unit are also suffering from cancers or rashes associated with the toxic chemical, which was all over the plant..........
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CBS_KBR_knew_dangers_of_toxic_1223.html
KBR gave troops ice tainted with ‘traces of body fluids and putrefied remains.’
By Ali Frick @ thinkprogress.org
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.SOURCE - http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/04/kbr-lawsuit-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.
SOURCE - http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/04/kbr-lawsuit-human-remains/
Guardsmen sue KBR over chemical exposure
By Scott Bronstein and Abbie Boudreau CNN Special Investigations Unit
(CNN) -- Attorneys for 16 Indiana National Guard soldiers on Wednesday sued the largest U.S. contractor in Iraq, alleging the company knowingly exposed the soldiers to a cancer-causing toxic chemical.
The lawsuit against Houston-based KBR, which seeks an unspecified amount, alleges that the soldiers were exposed to sodium dichromate, an inorganic compound containing a highly toxic form of chromium known as hexavalent chromium.
The soldiers say that they, along with other American civilian contractors, were exposed to the chemical at the Qarmat Ali water pumping plant in southern Iraq shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
KBR was tasked with getting the plant up and running using civilian contractors. The National Guardsmen were assigned to protect the civilian workers........
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/03/guardsmen.toxic/index.html
Suit claims Halliburton, KBR sickened base
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer @ military.comPosted : Thursday Dec 4, 2008 14:02:10 EST
A Georgia man has filed a lawsuit against contractor KBR and its former parent company, Halliburton, saying the companies exposed everyone at Joint Base Balad in Iraq to unsafe water, food and hazardous fumes from the burn pit there.
Joshua Eller, who worked as a civilian computer-aided drafting technician with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, said military personnel, contractors and third-country nationals may have been sickened by contamination at the largest U.S. installation in Iraq, home to more than 30,000 service members, Defense Department civilians and contractors.
“Defendants promised the United States government that they would supply safe water for hygienic and recreational uses, safe food supplies and properly operate base incinerators to dispose of medical waste safely,” according to the lawsuit, filed Nov. 26 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. “Defendants utterly failed to perform their promised duties.”
Eller and his attorneys are seeking to have the lawsuit declared a class action...........
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/military_kbr_lawsuit_121508w/
By Abbie Boudreau and Scott BronsteinCNN Special Investigations Unit
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A contractor providing services to the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan has committed serious violations of its contract, mainly by conducting inadequate inspections of electrical wiring and grounding at American bases, according to Pentagon sources.
Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret, died in his shower January 2.
His January 2 death was just one of many deaths now believed to be linked to shoddy electrical work done at U.S. bases, managed by U.S. contractors, according to Pentagon sources......
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/24/soldiers.electrocuted/?iref=mpstoryview
Middle East Development LLC, the Dubai-based construction company controlled by Tarek Mohammad bin Laden, half-brother of Osama bin Laden, announced it is seeking to raise $190 billion to build two new cities in Djibouti and Yemen and a 28.5-kilometer bridge linking them. This land link, across the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, would be the first joining the Arabian peninsula to Africa. Comments Bloomberg, June 2:
As oil earnings spur economic growth in the Persian Gulf, governments and investors are building new cities to create jobs for the region's burgeoning population and attract inward investment. The $120 billion King Abdullah Economic City project in Saudi Arabia is the region's biggest, followed by Kuwait's $86 billion Silk City project, according to Dubai-based research company Proleads.Yemen, the poorest Gulf state, faces Djibouti across the Red Sea and has attracted investment from neighbors including Qatar's state-owned Qatari Diar Real Estate Co. and Dubai-owned port operator DP World Ltd. DP World also has a management contract for Djibouti's sea port, and last year Dubai-owned investment company Istithmar PJSC bought a stake in the east African state's Daallo Airlines in a bet on increasing trade and travel between the Gulf and east Africa.Bush ain't looking for bin Laden, and here's why...Website
As oil earnings spur economic growth in the Persian Gulf, governments and investors are building new cities to create jobs for the region's burgeoning population and attract inward investment. The $120 billion King Abdullah Economic City project in Saudi Arabia is the region's biggest, followed by Kuwait's $86 billion Silk City project, according to Dubai-based research company Proleads.
Yemen, the poorest Gulf state, faces Djibouti across the Red Sea and has attracted investment from neighbors including Qatar's state-owned Qatari Diar Real Estate Co. and Dubai-owned port operator DP World Ltd. DP World also has a management contract for Djibouti's sea port, and last year Dubai-owned investment company Istithmar PJSC bought a stake in the east African state's Daallo Airlines in a bet on increasing trade and travel between the Gulf and east Africa.
Bush ain't looking for bin Laden, and here's why...Website
OK now it is my turn....... This is my little Blog ( published on a mere six sites) so permit me to talk about the two Bush's and how they have brought down our country almost single handedly. Then I want to talk about the aging hunchback.
Bush ( the elder) came from Langley ( the CIA) and was brainwashed by the system of Alan Dulles who started the CIA. The CIA is and always has been an autonomous company that operates on it;s own agenda. If you believe that Congress oversight is sufficient or is informed of all their doings I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. There Texas cowboys still live in the wild West and view the world as their personal oyster. Be it Iran - Contra or Abu Ghraib the CIA is at the forefront. The CIA is a rule bending, terrorist organization that operates in the "my way or the highway" mentality.
While the net gain in delegates was minimal, I am still disappointed in the results. Obviously, it should go without saying that from here on out, the gloves will be off as far as Hillary is concerned. The voters of Texas, and especially Ohio, rewarded her for going negative and she will feel empowered to step up the attacks. Now comes the age old political decision for Barack; stand by your values and take the high road even if it means defeat, or meet your opponents on their level and fight it out in the gutter because, to paraphrase the argument that usually wins... the ends justify the means. Maybe there is another way... maybe we can take the road less traveled and still get to the mountain top... At a time when Barack has been belittled on all fronts for being, of all things, too upbeat and too positive, maybe we can kill them with kindness. Or at least, befuddle whim with irony. I think a three pronged approach would be very successful at the point in the campaign. First, scour the interview records from the first Clinton campaign and run every one of the interviews in which Hillary, Bill, Carville and the whole machine, made the case that Bill's limited experience and relative young age were non issues. Surely there is tape somewhere of Hillary herself making that case. Remind voters that it was not that long ago that the Clinton's thought being the governor of a small state with one of the worst education systems in the nation, was perfect qualification for the presidency. Second, hire someone to do a semi-satirical "dog years" ad wherein a Hillary-esque lists every year as first lady as being equal to three-quarters of a year as president, thereby giving her six years of presidential experience... follow it up immediately with a George-esque character listing his experience as follows. Each year as son of the vice president should equal a quarter of a year of presidential experience, that gives him two years under Reagan, then each year as the son of the president equals a half year as president so, that gives him a total of two years under his daddy for a grand total of four years of presidential expurience... Then a quick comparison with Hillary's six years of second hand experience being factored down to three years because, she only claims credit for half of what her husband did as president... Then close the commercial with a caption of Hillary and a parody of the Holiday Inn Express line, "I don't have any actual presidential experience, but I did live at the Whitehouse once. Third, I would turn the tables on both McCain and Clinton's attacks the substance issue. Make some commercials with a snippet of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, John Kennedy's "Ask Not Speech", Robert Kennedy's "and Ask Why Not", Martin Luther King's, "Dream" speech, the Preamble to the Constitution and end it with Barack saying, My opponents say I dream too big, that my goals are too high, my plans to grandiose. My entire life has been shaped by the ideas, dreams and powerful words of men like Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, King and even Reagan... I believe America's destiny has always been brightest when when our leaders dreamed big, talked proud and stood strong. I refuse to believe our best days are behind us, because I've seen the youth of this country and I know, our future is in great hands, as long as we push ourselves to be the nation we all know in our hearts that we not only can be, but should be, but must be. As your president, I'll never stop asking more of our leaders in government, our allies and yes, even our enemies. If we don't look them in the eye and stand up for what we believe, we can hardly expect them to live up to it. Coming out of eight long, misguided years under Bush and Haliburton, I am definitely not afraid that my dreams are too big for America, only that this country's pent up need to do the right things will challenge me to dream big enough. If the American people can resist getting caught up in the negative campaign that Hillary knows is her only chance, we can deny the money men and special interests that have all but destroyed America's economy, reputation and spirit. I've spent the last couple of years talking to Americans from every walk of life, every creed, color and gender and my dreams for you pale in comparison to the dreams each of you have for America, for your children and yes, for yourselves. I do have a dream, I do have a plan, and with your continued support, together we will remake the country and this world into what our parents intended it to be for us. Many of our leaders in recent years lost their way... they became jaded and settled in to the status quo... they accepted the idea that you have to take special interest money to keep your seat, they justified their actions by convincing themselves that they can't do good if their not elected and they can't get elected without making some deals with the money men along the way, the tell themselves they do these things for the greater good of everyone and so what if a billion dollar company gets to pollute a little more than they should, or gets to make record profits off of the poorest citizens, after all, everybody does it. My dreams are not too big, it's the influence of special interests that's gotten too big. How else can you explain John McCain hand in hand with George Bush after the savage, cruel campaign that Bush ran against him? He needs the money that Bush and the Republican money machine can provide if he hopes to win. How else can you explain an honored military hero who was himself tortured as a POW, accepting the support of a president who sanctions torture? It is this "win at all costs, forget about your principles and do whatever it takes" attitude that has made my campaign seem so unbelievable. I am not taking the money, and I refuse to dampen my enthusiasm. This is America, and if the person running to be your next president doesn't have big dreams, high hopes and good old fashioned pride in what this nation can do when it listens to it's better angels, he or she doesn't deserve you vote. I have great confidence in my ability to lead this nation, not because I know everything, but because I know what's right and what’s fair and I will fill my cabinet with people who value principle, integrity and the living conditions of the American people above personal gain, party politics and business as usual. Yes, TOGETHER we can. We went to the moon, won wars and have served as the lighthouse of freedom for the entire world for the last century... It is true that we have some serious challenges before us, with terrorism, global warming and the economy but we cannot give in to those who would have us believe we aren't up to these tasks. If you think the economy is beyond hope, talk to someone who saw the great depression, if you think the war on terrorism is the biggest threat we've faced, talk to someone who survived the halocaust and if you think global warming is not something that we can minimize, talk to someone who went to the moon. To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, "we choose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because the are hard.... because our children deserve the same American dream that our fore-fathers made available to us..." The difference between John McCain and I or for that matter, Hillary Clinton and I is simple, with them you will be getting the best president that the PACs can buy and with Barack Obama, you will know once and for all, you are getting the president YOU paid for and I promise to work as hard for your interests as John and Hillary will for the Political Action Committees they will be beholding to.
Who am I to support Barack Obama? A "delusional", middle-age white woman living the American Dream has no right to HOPE for something better. I beg to differ because my hope is not for something better for me personally. My hope is for something better for my children first - a chance to pursue their American Dream and live in on a vibrant and healthy earth, but also for my neighbors and friends (both American and Latino) who have struggled and continue to struggle to obtain the American Dream; for my neighbors and friends who thought they had obtained the American Dream, only to have it recently yanked away by the subprime mortgage crisis and the fallow economy; for my parents and their friends who have to choose between their mortgage & utilities or their medication; for every child.... to be able to fulfill their own promise.
Our education system has become so constrictive, every child must fit perfectly into the same square hole, that we aren't allowing our children to reach their full potential. If all they are taught, or exposed to through public education, is what is going to be on the NCLB tests, then where will our scientists come from, where will our musicians come from, where will our next great innovations come from, where will our doctors come from in the future? All children learn differently. All children have different talent AND potential. Every child needs the opportunity to excel in the area of their greatest potential. We must redefine success to reflect the more comprehensive learning needed for our children to find success and in turn provide our great country with opportunities for success in an international economy and political arena.
We no longer live in a world of isolation. What we do diplomatically and politically affects almost every part of the world, and vice versa. Our economy effects the world. We have suffered almost irreparable harm from the failure of our current government to acknowledge and act on this premise. Decisions can not be made in a vacuum of arrogant predilection and outdated approaches to foreign policy, diplomatic relations and economic influences.
MISSION IS NOT ACCOMPLISHED. The war in Iraq has not only been a terrible mistake, it has been scandalous. No bid contracts worth billions of dollars have been "awarded" to Haliburton and its subsidiaries. Hopefully, people do realize that until Dick Cheney was elected Vice President with Mr. Bush, he served on the Board of Directors at Haliburton. How convenient.... Millions, if not billions of our dollars ( and our children's dollars) have been funnelled through Haliburton, et. al., with efforts to maintain accountability often wanting. Money has just disappeared somewhere between the payment to Hailburton and where it was supposed to end up in Iraq.
Oh, and THE IRONY to learn that the US Military has awarded an extremely lucrative contract to a FRENCH company AIRBUS instead of an AMERICAN company BOEING, in today's economy no less, for replacing the military's fuel delivery aircraft EVEN THOUGH the same military REFUSED to purschase armored vehicles and body armor from a company in a foreign county and make these immediately available to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect them, to save their lives, their limbs, because, the military says, they wanted to wait until the armored vehicles and body armor could be delivered by an American Company, SHOULD BE LOST ON NO ONE.
Finally, we must root out and end the prevalent corruption in the White House (and in Congress to some degree) and restore the power of our Constitution. The weakness of our government in protecting us against the onslaught of Executive Power advances against our Constitutional rights has been dangerous. I am angry that our current president passes laws but then exempts himself from them.... more than any other president, he has done this. The last number I heard was 750 laws passed with an exemption for the president. The President and the members Executive Branch are not above the Laws that are passed by our Congress!
Oh, and I am not delusional. I know that Barack Obama can not wave a magic wand and fix all of this nonsense by himself. But he DOES recognize it, and offers the hope AND LEADERSHIP to unite OUR help and attention in order to make changes to improve our possibilities for a better America. He is thoughtful, open to receiving and digesting different points of view and he has demonstrated extraordinary wisdom in the face of ridicule and fear-mongering.
No other candidate offers the insight and potential to move us in the positive direction that we so desparately need right now. These are a few of my favorite reasons for supporting Barack Obama.
I am hopeful about the opportunity to elect a leader who stands for the people and is unafraid to confront corruption in our government. However, if Barack is going to do this, he must do it all the way.
Condemning the war in Iraq is a good step. But there's a lot more that must be done at this fragile time in our country's history. We are being ruled by a covert fascist government whose goal is total control over the population at the cost of our freedom, our resources, and our very lives. Let's look at just some of the corruption in our govt today:
Supporting the propoganda about who was at the cause of 9-11 is unacceptable. There is tremendous evidence that our government not only had ample warning of the attacks, but was actually behind the attacks through purposeful negligence. 9-11 provided the justification that neo-cons had been specifically plotting for over a decade in order to pursue their geostrategic goal of occupying the middle east. It was about world control, oil profits, and war profiteering.
No link was ever found between the events of 9-11 and Afghanistan, Bin Laden, or Iraq. Even the "hijackers" named by the FBI were from Saudi Arabia. So why does Barack say in 2002 and repeat it now that we must go after Bin Laden for 9-11? And how can he ignore all the evidence that the US was responsible?
Why did Bush refuse to testify or even to allow an investigation into 9-11? Only a guilty person has something to hide. For protection of national security? What national security? Even our multi-billion dollar NORAD military super satelite space system which is designed to stop and capale of stopping attacks like 9-11 didn't work. "Protecting national security" = "covering up Bush's crimes".
Barack, did you know that it has been proven that Bush received funding from Bin Laden's family as early as 1980? Or that Bush Sr was sitting with Bin Laden's brother at a meeting of the Carlyle Ivestment group on 9-11? Or that the Bin Laden family was flown out of the US "for their own protection" by the US govt. when all other air traffic was grounded after 9-11? Or that Bush forbid FBi agents from investigating Al-Qaeda in the US leading up to the attacks? The head of the FBI resigned in frustration and his new job was head of security at the WTC. His first day of work? Sep 11. He died in the attacks. Or that the Enron investigation records possibly pointing to Bush's involvement were stored in the WTC and destroyed on 9-11? It goes on and on and on.
How can we stand for anything less than a public trial of the entire Bush administration for political corruption and crime? Think Enron, 9-11, Haliburton, war profiteering, dividing Iraq's oil to US oil companies, election rigging, erosion of civil liberties, raping the environment, killing thousands of innocent people in every country we attack, lies, fraud, stealing.
Barack, you can't forge a bold new future by holding hands with the most evil and corrupt men alive. And telling them they should do better isn't enough, either. You need to bring them to JUSTICE. You need to totally rout evil out of Washington. We need a political revolution.
We need to end the privitization of the Federal Reserve and the income tax that pays the outrageous interest to the bankers who own our country. The right to print money belongs to the people, to our govt, not to bankers. And people working their ass off to survive shouldn't be paying income tax on those wages, especially when it goes straight into the pocket of war profiteers and rich bankers. The Federal Reserve and war profiteers like Haliburton need to be brough to JUSTICE. They need to be tried and convicted of theft, treason, fraud, and everything else they've committed. They need to have their assets seized and they need to go to prison for life.
Wake up, Barack. A little change is not enough. We need a revolution. We need JUSTICE. Only then will we truly be free.
The people of this country will stand behind you because we want true freedom. It is quickly becoming too late to save this country and this world. Let's do it now!
