12 GIS ELECTROCUTED IN IRAQ BY FORMER HALLIBURTON SUBSIDIARY UNDER INVESTIGATION

Vice President Dick Cheney was once CEO of Halliburton and one of Halliburton's former subsidiaries, KBR, is at the center of a probe that at least a dozen soldiers and Marines have been electrocuted in Iraq since the war began due to the improper grounding of electrical wires.

KBR was recently in the headlines for supplying contaminated water to troops in Iraq.

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/

IRAQ -- KBR CITED IN PROBE OF ACCIDENTAL ELECTROCUTIONS IN IRAQ: The Houston Chronicle reported last night that "[a]t least a dozen soldiers and Marines have been electrocuted in Iraq over the five years of the war" and that "investigators now are trying to learn what role improper grounding of electrical wires played in those deaths."

At the center of the probe is private contractor KBR, a company that not only dodged $500 million in Medicare and Social Security taxes but also provided "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water to U.S. troops in Iraq.

A soldier who was electrocuted last January while taking a shower prompted the investigation. The Army originally said he "had a small, electrical appliance with him in the shower" but further investigation by the soldier's mother revealed his death resulted in faulty wiring and that KBR had been contracted to provide maintenance on the building. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) recently wrote Defense Secretary Robert Gates seeking details of the investigation. Noting a 2004 Army-issued safety warning regarding improper grounding of electrical wires, Waxman asked, "You wonder how it even could happen one time. But if a tragedy does occur once -- because of a mistake -- how could it possibly occur 12 times?"