KBR Sells Contaminated Water To Troops

When Bush and Cheney started their ridiculous misadventure in Iraq, they gave a bunch of lucrative no-bid contracts to their corporate friends to provide goods and services for our troops. The company that received the majority of these rewarding contracts was Dick Cheney's old company, Halliburton and its many subsidiaries.

Now we learn of another instance in which these companies are failing our troops while making themselves rich. KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton until recently, has been selling our troops contaminated water. This water has been making our troops sick.

Our soldiers have experienced skin abcesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses from using smelly and discolored water provided by KBR. It was not drinking water, but water provided for laundry and personal hygiene.

A Defense Department Inspector General's report was obtained by the Associated Press, which shows there have been water contamination problems in Iraq by KBR between January 2004 and December 2006 -- a full three years!

The report said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and "exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water". The delivery of contaminated water continued for three years, because Halliburton and KBR tried to cover up the problem rather than fix it.

The Bush administration has done a very poor job of taking care of our soldiers. They have allowed second-rate protective vests, poorly-armored Humvees and substandard veteran's care. They have also done a poor job of overseeing the contractors who are supposed to be taking care of our troops.

We not only need to end this war and bring our troops home, but we need to get a whole bunch of congressional investigations going. Our troops have been short-changed by the Republicans and their corporate cronies for far too long.