NAMES OF U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED IN IRAQ BUT NOT IN DOD COUNT OF GIS KILLED IN IRAQ

The Department of Defense (DoD) has often manipulated the deaths of soldiers and Marines in Iraq by listing them as combat related and non-combat related, and even went so far not long ago as claiming a soldier killed from behind was not a combat death.

But according to the Iraq Casualties org http://icasualties.org/oif/, the most reliable source for information on deaths of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the DoD has come up with new definitions for U.S. military personnel deaths that is even more misleading and baffling.

For example: A U.S. soldier killed in Baghdad on Feb. 24 is listed as a MNF-MND solider. MNF stands for Multi National Force, and MND stands for Multi-National Division.

The deceased was an AMERICAN soldier. Why not give him that much credit in his last full measure of devotion to the United States of America?

Also, there are names of FIVE U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, but for some reason the DoD (Department of Defense) has not included their names in the official count of combat deaths in Iraq. Read the fine print under the list of five soldiers killed in Iraq.

Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ the blog that dares to tell the truth about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD:
3969
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation:
2
Total
3971DoD Confirmation List

Latest Coalition Fatality: Feb 24, 2008
02/24/08 MNF: MND-B Soldier attacked by IED
A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed when an improvised explosive device struck the Soldier’s vehicle during a combat patrol in northern Baghdad Feb. 24.

Post Iraq Deaths Not Confirmed By the DoD
Name
Date
Wasielewsk, Anthony Raymond
08-Oct-2007
Cassidy, Gerald J.
25-Sep-2007
Richards, Jack D.
29-Jul-2007
Salerno III, Raymond A.
16-Jul-2006
Smith, John "Bill"
01-Oct-2005Note: The soldiers listed above died from wounds received in Iraq, however, the DoD has not included their deaths in their official count.

IRAQ MARINE VET GETS TWO YEARS IN PRISON FOR KILLING INTRUDER

Elton John Richard, 30, was a decorated Marine who had fought in both Iraq wars and had been part of the 2003 rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch, but a district judge in Albuquerque sentenced the hero to two years in prison after he was found guilty of second degree manslaughter of killing an intruder who broke into his garage and then fled.

Richard was also ordered to pay restitution of $500 a month for the next four years.

Richard chased Daniel Romero, the intruder, and kept telling him to get down on the ground.

Richard, speaking publicly about the ordeal for the first time, said that Romero grabbed his gun and kept telling Richard that his friends were coming.

“The safety and security of myself, my son and my wife was compromised,” Richard said. “I didn’t have time to armchair quarterback it.”

Former Marine sentenced for killing intruder

The Associated PressPosted : Sunday Feb 24, 2008 9:09:58 EST

http://tinyurl.com/368tpx

ALBUQUERQUE — A district judge has sentenced a former Marine to two years in prison for fatally shooting an intruder who broke into his home and then fled.

Elton John Richard, 30, was a decorated Marine who had fought in both Iraq wars and had been part of the 2003 rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch. He had pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter after being charged with second-degree murder.

State District Judge Pat Murdoch also ordered Richard to pay restitution of $500 a month for four years.

Daniel Romero, 34, broke in to Richard’s garage in December 2004.

Richard, a Department of Energy nuclear materials courier with top security clearance, found Romero in his garage and chased him a quarter mile from his property before shooting him as he tried to climb a fence.

During the chase, Richard yelled at Romero to get on the ground and for neighbors to call 911, court documents said.

Prosecutor Theresa Whatley said all Romero did was try to get away.

“He should have been arrested and should have not been killed,” she said.

Richard, speaking publicly about the ordeal for the first time, said that Romero grabbed his gun and kept telling Richard that his friends were coming.

“The safety and security of myself, my son and my wife was compromised,” Richard said. “I didn’t have time to armchair quarterback it.”

U.S. SOLDIER KILLED IN BAGHDAD. 40 SHIITE PILGRIMS KILLED BY SUICIDE BOMBER NEAR BAGHDAD

A U.S. soldier was killed in Baghdad on Sunday and attacks were reported all across Iraq as the waves of violence escalate in the war torn country.

The mainstream media in the United States continues to ignore the mounting violence in Iraq which is both an injustice to the American public but an insult to the 160,000 U.S. troops deployed to Iraq.

In a BREAKING NEWS story 40 pilgrims were killed by a suicide bomber.

Suicide bomber kills 40 Shiite pilgrims in Iraq
by Abbas al-Ani1 hour, 1 minute ago

http://tinyurl.com/3cqy3

A suicide bomber blew himself up amid a crowd of Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 40 people, police and medical officials told AFP.

At least 60 people were also wounded in the blast in the town of Iskandiriyah, said Karim Al-Tamimi, a police lieutenant from the province of Babil.

"At around 3:00 pm, when pilgrims were eating their lunch inside the tent, a bomber blew himself up amid the crowd," said Tamimi.

Mohammed Al-Zaidi, of Babil province state health office, gave the same toll and said that at least 25 of those wounded were seriously injured.

A US military official confirmed the attack, but put the initial death toll at 25.

"The suicide bomber was wearing an explosives vest who detonated his explosives outside the Hateen Apartments, which is outside of Iskandiriyah," the official added.

The apartments are located on the route between the towns of Iskandiriyah and Musayyib in the region known as the "triangle of death."

The attack took place on a two-lane highway, the official said, adding that the casualties did not include any US military personnel.


U.S. SOLDIER KILLED BY ROADSIDE BOMB IN BAGHDAD

BaghdadOne U.S. soldier killed, three injured, in a roadside bombing in northern Baghdad. One civilian also injured. No further details at this time.Roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol injures five civilians in Hurriya.

Roadside bomb and gun attack on Shiite pilgrims kills 3, injures 36. McClatchy gives the total injured as 45, and apparently referring to the same attack, VoI gives the toll of injured as 46 but the confirmed death toll as only 1.

Two civilians injured by IED in Zafaraniyah, southeast Baghdad.Three bodies found dumped in various places.

IskandiriyahA suicide bomber struck a group of pilgrims on the highway to Karbala. AP, and other news services, give the death toll as 25. However, AFP gives the death toll as 40, with 60 injured, and says this number comes from both a local police lieutenant and the provincial health office.al-Hawija (south of Kirkuk)Car bomb attacking "Awakening Council" (Sahwa) members kills one, injures 10. The injured include Hussein Khalaf al-Juburi, the chief of the district’s Awakening Council, and his aide Sami Bakir.MosulIED attack on a bus kills two employees of the electricity ministry and injures three.A child is killed in the crossfire between U.S. forces and suspected "al Qaeda" gunmen, according to an Iraqi military spokesman.One killed, one wounded in a drive-by shooting. No info on the identity of the victims.

PARTY HOUSE, PROSTITUTES, PROFITEERING IN IRAQ: CHENEY TIES?

Who is KBR and what do they do in Iraq? And what was Vice President Dick Cheney's role in KBR and the contracts they landed for work in Iraq?

KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) NYSE: KBR is an American engineering and construction company, formerly a subsidiary of Halliburton, based in Houston. After Halliburton acquired Dresser Industries in 1998, Dresser's engineering subsidiary, The M. W. Kellogg Co., was merged with Halliburton's construction subsidiary, Brown & Root, to form Kellogg Brown & Root. KBR and its predecessors have won many contracts with the U.S. military during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as well as during World War II and the Vietnam War.

KBR is the largest [1] non-union construction company in the United States.

KBR employs more American private contractors and holds a larger contract with the U.S. government than does any other firm in Iraq. The company's roughly 14,000 U.S. employees in Iraq provide logistical support to the U.S. armed forces. [5]

The United States Army hired KBR to provide housing for approximately 100,000 soldiers in Iraq in a contract worth $200 million, based on a long-term contract signed in December 2001 under the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP). Other LOGCAP orders have included a pre-invasion order to repair oil facilities in Iraq; $28.2 million to build POW camps; and $40.8 million to accommodate the Iraqi Survey Group, which was deployed after the invasion to find weapons of mass destruction.

The Army's actions came under fire from California Congressman Henry Waxman, who, along with Michigan Congressman John Dingell, asked the General Accounting Office to investigate whether the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Pentagon were circumventing government contracting procedures and favoring companies with ties to the Bush administration.

They also accused KBR of inflating prices for importing gasoline into Iraq.[6][7] In June 2003, the Army announced that it would replace KBR's oil-infrastructure contract with two public-bid contracts worth a maximum total of $1 billion, to be awarded in October. However, the Army announced in October it would expand the contract ceiling to $2 billion and the solicitation period to December.

As of October 16, 2003, KBR had performed nearly $1.6 billion worth of work. In the meantime, KBR has subcontracted with two companies to work on the project: Boots & Coots, an oil field emergency response firm that Halliburton works in partnership with (CEO Jerry L. Winchester was a former Halliburton manager) and Wild Well Control. Both firms are based in Texas.[8]

By Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ a blog dedicated to bringing readers behind-the-scenes dealings and the latest unreported war news from Iraq and Afghanistan.

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY'S TIES TO KBR

Following the end of the first Gulf War, the Pentagon, led by then Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, paid Halliburton subsidiary Brown & Root Services over $8.5 million to study the use of private military forces with American soldiers in combat zones.[4]

Cheney was chairman and chief executive officer of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. He has been accused of supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq and providing work to KBR under contingency contracts to financially benefit himself and his business associates.

KBR'S INVOLVEMENT WITH PROSTITUTES AND PROFITEERING IN IRAQ

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/party-house-pro.html

Stories of waste, fraud and abuse related to U.S. military contracts in Iraq are so "old news" that it takes something really awful to being shocking these days. Newly released court records related to the subcontractors operating under the KBR LOGCAP contract, provide just such shocking details. "On Wednesday, a federal judge in Rock Island sentenced the Army official, Chief Warrant Officer Peleti "Pete" Peleti Jr., to 28 months in prison for taking bribes," the Chicago Tribune reports. "One Middle Eastern subcontractor treated him to a trip to the 2006 Super Bowl, a defense investigator said."

Like all bribes, the payoffs ranged from the paltry to the outrageous:

In October 2002, five months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, [Tamimi operations director Shabbir] Khan threw a birthday party for Seamans at a Tamimi "party house" near the Kuwait base known as Camp Arifjan. Khan "provided Seamans with a prostitute as a present," Rock Island prosecutors wrote in court papers. Driving Seamans back to his quarters, Khan offered kickbacks that would total $130,000.

Some of the dirty dealing got downright dirty:

The Army LOGCAP contract required KBR to medically screen the thousands of kitchen workers that subcontractors like Tamimi imported from impoverished villages in Nepal, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

But when Pentagon officials asked for medical records in March 2004, Khan presented "bogus" files for 550 Tamimi workers, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Lang said in a court hearing last year.

KBR retested those 550 workers at a Kuwait City clinic and found 172 positive for exposure to hepatitis A, Lang told the judge. Khan tried to suppress those findings, warning the clinic director that Tamimi would do no more business with his medical office if he "told KBR about these results," Lang said in court. The infectious virus can cause fatigue and other symptoms that arise weeks after contact.

And the list goes on ...

Click on link for the rest of the story.