My Friend's Son Killed in Iraq: By Contractors and U.S. Agency?

Last night, I was surprised and happy to find a photograph of my friend Cheryl Harris at the top of the New York Times' web site. She was hugging her young son, Ryan Maseth, an Army sergeant who was dressed in his uniform and cap. The were both smiling broadly. A few months later he was dead. The military told her this past January that he had foolishly carried an electrical appliance into a shower in Baghdad.

That was a lie.

It turned out the fault was an improperly grounded water pump. With a little help from me, she found out that at least 10 other military personnel have been electrocuted in Iraq in recent years. Now she is suing the contractor KBR, though there is evidence that the military and the Defense Contracting Management Agency are also to blame for being lax in its own inspections. The Times article carries word of early alerts about this, which were ignored.

Cheryl Harris is quoted by the Times today, asking, "My biggest question is really, why would KBR do a safety inspection, know about the electrical problems and not alert the troops?" The article, still on the paper's home page, is headlined, "GIs Electrocuted in Iraq Despite '04 Alert on Wiring."

Just after I reported on the Maseth electrocution for Editor & Publisher back in January -- no one else in the national media bothered to do so -- Cheryl, who lives in western Pennsylvania, contacted me wondering how she could find out how many others had met his fate. She was especially concerned because -- unmentioned in the Times story today -- she has another son in Iraq and yet another in the military serving elsewhere. I directed her to some sources and we have corresponded often ever since then, most recently today.

Of course, the Bush administration aptly catches plenty of blame in the Times article for outsourcing so much work in Iraq (directing billions to the KBRs of the world) and then not providing enough oversight.

Two months ago I wrote, "Rep. Henry Waxman and Pentagon chief Robert Gates are looking into reports that the 12 deaths, and probably more, were caused by shoddy wiring and construction where our troops are housed. It is not known how many of these cases involved KBR. Cheryl Harris's lawyer has obtained military documents indicated that KBR told the Defense Contracting Management Agency there were wiring problems in the building before Maseth's death, and nothing was done about them. The question is: Who is to blame? And what about all those other cases.

"Also, Harris was originally told by the military that her son had been electrocuted after he took a small electrical appliance into the shower area. She couldn't get answers herself and contacted a local member of Congress. Now documents show that Ryan was killed when an electrical water pump shorted out after he had stepped into the shower and turned on the water. An electrical current then passed through the water pipes to a metal shower hose in the shower."

Cheryl informed me then, "I'd like to have questions answered about who is accountable, and I'd like to know that this can't happen again to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan." Today she told me that she just did a CNN interview: So the story widens, at last.
*
Greg Mitchell's book So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Fails on Iraq includes several chapters on "nonhostile" deaths and suicides in Iraq. It features a preface by Bruce Springsteen. Mitchell can be reached at [e-mail].

Comments

[MissingAmerica]

Thank you for helping her find the truth. God bless her and the others who are suffering through yet another torture inflicted by this administration.

I have to wonder if KBR is going to be doing this wiring in the new shopping mall and condos in the Green Zone.

This is too horrific for words! Where is Congress with the impeachment process? Don't they pay attention?

[billysviez]

they sure do. they pay attention to their bank accounts and money for reelection and at least 50% of what We hear are Lies from both sides. Pelosi and other Demorats are as guilty as cheney and the chimp for the Blood being lost in this senseless War.

[TeddySalad]

I am so sorry for the loss of this American soldier. However, to say that this is NEWSWORTHY is ridiculous. People die at their jobs everyday in the U.S. To think it might be safer in a third world country during a War is moronic.

[hoodrat]

Course it's not newsworthy - unless that son is yours. Maybe if they had let Military engineers do it - as they have in years/wars past, instead of guarding a post, or out sniffing for IEDs - the conditions might've been safer. And this isn't people dying at their jobs - he obviously was on stand down, minus a little incoming - you expect it to be somewhat safe.

[heal57]

TeddySalad, why don't you apply for a job with the Bush White House. You'd fit in with all of those bast***s who don't give a damn about anybody's sons or daughters. I'm ashamed to call you an American. Are you?

[runswithscissors]

It's newsworthy in that deregulation and cronyism are BushCo trademarks. KBR is a subsidiary of Halliburton, which is why they're getting all the contracts. And there is absolutely no oversight of KBR projects. When you consider that KBR is using these same tactics on thousands of building sites here in the US (they were probably the biggest winner from Katrina), it becomes very newsworthy. For their line of business, this is the equivilent of Firestone selling faulty tires...an event that everyone agreed was newsworthy.

[bigfated]

No, TeddySalad­.....what is truly moronic is the remaining 20% or so who think this stupid war was a good idea. If there isa God in heaven....­these stinking neo-cons will get their due. Every last one of them, including Powell and Rice who sold their souls to the Bush Crime Cartel will rot in hell....co­ndemned as war criminals and mass murderers. George W. Bush is America's Pol POt or Idi Amin. He is a slug who leaves a slime trail of misery and destruction in his wake. I wish the very worst for him and his family and his closest criminal enablers. I'll bet Rove will soon be on the hot seat....an­d come 2009---when the Dems majority is truly significant---the shit will begin to hit the fan and these scum will be scurrying like rats to the law firms begging for help.

[Puzzles]

If God is just, I tremble for my country.
-Thomas Jefferson

True then and true now.

[rage]

Exactly, if this soldier were a peace corps worker who got electrocuted in AFRICA, this wouldn't be anywhere on this site.

It pisses me off when anti-war people use troop casualties to support their protest. According to Code Pink and Congressman Murtha, American troops are baby-killing thugs who deserve their fates.

I guess the fact that this soldier is a son of one of your friends is why you're so outraged. The rest of them be damned.

[Lemastre]

What do shoddy appliances in the U.S. and electrocutions in Africa have to do with the failure of the U.S. defense department to oversee KBR and the deaths that result from its substandard work? And are casualties not a major reason to abstain from war? If no casualties were incurred, war and backgammon would be about equally objectionable. Or do you not realize that "casualties" are dead or injured people? By the way, is there a significant number of Peace Corps electrocutions in Africa? And did Congressman Murtha actually call American troops "baby-killing thugs"?

[WomanInOrangeSweater]

Troop casualties due to war is one thing criminal negligence by our own contractors is another. They should be held accountable. We are paying their salaries, after all. And why wouldn't casualties be a reason to protest a war based on falsehoods. Some of us in America still like the truth and we don't like our soldiers dying unnecessarily. Obviously, you're too involved with your self serving ideology to give a crap about young lives or honesty. Are you in the Bush administration?

[Cherlesq]

Imagine if this poor mother had not been friends with you. Would anyyone had known the truth?

[rage]

I didn't mean to repeat your point. I hadn't gotten to your post when I wrote mine. Sorry.

[Cherlesq]

How very sad. My deepest condolences. I am very disappointed in the covereage of so many actual newsworthy stories. I can only imagine two things area t work here. First, the corporate ownership of the MSM and second the unhealthy obsession with the most irrelevent and salacious aspects fot he presidential campaign.

I am sorry.

[PaulLoeb]

Very important story--there needs to be a major congressional investigation

[unity08]

As a mother of a 17 year old boy, this story breaks my heart. Adding insult to extreme injutr by lying about the manner of this young mans death is beyond deplorable. My prayers are with all of our troops and their familys. We must end this tragedy.

[egal]

Who else feels like they're being gipped as soldiers are replaced with exponentially more expensive foreign and untrained contractors (who are hired on a lowest-bidder status from companies mostly owned by and benefitting Cheney) to do work that is so blatantly shoddy that the soldiers frequently and unceasingly point out the low quality--but are ignored because the contractors are accountable to nobody?

[StealthisBlog]

Please, "gipped" is shortened from gypsy and is a derogatory term. Quite like the term "jew" to mean dickering for a lower price. Find another word. Conned. Ripped off. Stolen from. You get the idea. The term you used is an offensive one left over from a time when every local crime was blamed on Gypsy's passing through. You seem like a nice enough person, please don't belittle yourself and others by continuing to have this word in your lexicon. So many other colorful ways to make your point.

[rage]

Are you kidding!?!? Nobody gives a crap about this. Stop being so sensitive. Are you sure about the etymology of every colloquialism you use or is used. It must take you forever to make a point. Stop bothering people with this $#!T.

[Knowbetter]

"Gypsy" itself is a derogatory term. These people are properly referred to as "Roma."

[westtexasboy]

Greg, Is her local newspaper at all interested? I sure hope so.

[vet64]

The reason the malfeasance is not reported is because the Neo Con owned News Media is in Collusion with the Neo Con Parasites infesting the Executive Branch who are also in Collusion with the Neo Con owned Conglomera­tes.. Directed in part by the Neo Con owned Think Tanks who are pulling King Pinocchios puppet strings.
The imbedded news reporters are only allowed to print what the propaganda officers let them. There are possibly billions of American Taxpayer dollars funding the propaganda as well as the billions of American Taxpayer dollars paid to the Neo Con News Media Conglomerates.
All very and tidy. The Neo Con Lawyers, Judges, and Prosecutors emplaced to replace the politically fired Non Partisan Lawyers, Judges and Prosecutors. And legalized by the Neo Con United States Supreme Court Justices who are in plaace to re-interpret the United States Constitution into the Neo Con ideals, policies and actions.
They have their own Mercenary Army and what technology paid for by the missing billions of American Taxpayer dollars brought to Iraq on pallets. Our Military is pretty much worn out.
During the American Revolution, the Patriots fought King George and his Mercenary Armies with their militarily superior weapons. The ragtag rebels didn't fight fair and were forced to fight behind cover and never in the open. I thought the Revolutionary War was over Taxation without Representation.
Now we have King George and his Mercenary Armies and their advanced technology.

[druidlady42]

You're absolutely RIGHT, vet64!

The unbelievable magnitude and depth of CORRUPTION, INCOMPETENCE, DISHONESTY, and, yes, EVIL within this entire administration is beyond the comprehension or imagination of most of the uninformed American public! You, like I and far too few others, have been "paying attention" and realize that the 2000 "election" was, in actuality, a COUP of this entire government and our media by a relatively small group of NEOCONS (Was that term EVER explained to the public?), whose plans to radically change the direction of our country were laid back in the last decade! While the public was being distracted by the latest sensation, fear, or scandal, our country was being STOLEN by these same people!

But it isn't just the NeoCons who are to blame for tragedies such as this! Congress (both Republican & Democratic) is equally guilty for NOT doing its job of oversight, of demanding accountability, of defending "this country against all enemies--both foreign and DOMESTIC", and of NOT ridding this government of GWB and CHENEY many years ago when it became public knowledge that they were LIARS and endangered the very foundations of our Constitution and all America used to stand for!

Every American needs to re-read our Declaration of Independence and TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK from all these criminals and despots!

[iBgood]

Who cares about the safety of our troops when there is money to be made off the backs of American taxpayers?
Always show up wearing a flag pin and point the finger at everyone else and his dog. With the help of the msm it will all be fine.

[kellygrrrl]

some God - any God - please - have mercy on us ... all

[Danny]

This where the despised "regulations", the right-wing so despises come in. Regulations are part of the civilized society we the "Liberals" had built for them. The "right-wing" chose to destroy them. because it cost a little "money". We have to begin again to think of a "we" society, not a "me" society.

[wmfor]

Oh, I'm sure if Bush were asked about it he would call on KBR to "self-regulate", rather than imposing "onerous restrictions" on them. Let the market decide.

[S1m0n]

"Cheryl told me then, "I'd like to have questions answered about who is accountabl­e..."

That's an easy one to answer: NO ONE will be held to account over this.

[WoodyCPM]

Sadly Simon, I think you are correct. It would be absolutely incredible if someone were to actually be held accountable. It will never happen. And the slaughter of the innocent continues.­..........­.

How much more of this can we stand, people? How much more?

[America4Obama]

Where is the media outrage and coverage of this and similar stories? They can devote countless hours to endless coverage of Reverand Wright and bitter-gate, etc. but nothing on this. What about the deplorable living conditions troops have encountered which recently surfaced on YouTube? Like Obama says, the change has to happen start from the bottom up. The public has to start demanding accountability from our government. I am so sick thinking about what this mother and other family members similarly affected are going through.

[thinkb4uleapII]

I understand and share your outrage. It is a criminal travesty that the corporate media is being used to shape the perception of the war to aid the perpetrators. I have long since given up on the corporate media as a valuable news resource and don't expect to hear anything other than the occasional tame and watered-down coverage they provide. They will continue to report what fits their propaganda agenda - hence the unrelenting coverage of Rev. Wright.

[WoodyCPM]

Turn it off! Someone should start a movement called TURN IT OFF!. The media, television, the lying liars and the lying crap they tell. TURN IT OFF! There could be protest marches, position papers, endorsements, websites, T-shirts, coffee mugs, all with TURN IT OFF! on them. Every time you tune it in, they are rewarded. TURN IT OFF! Get up off your duff. Go for a walk. Visit a soldier in the hospital. Garden. Read a book. Talk to your neighbors. But turn the stupid, lying crap machine OFF! Free your mind. You do not NEED TV to flourish.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Mr. Mitchell,

I have been following your coverage of this story, and in the MSM, to the little extent it's been covered .

As I wrote a day or so ago on the HuffPo coverage of the NYTimes article, as a licensed civil Professional Engineer, IMHO, this is criminal negligence.

I'm no electricial, but I believe to have the kind of electrocutions described, there would need to be TWO construction (or design) errors:
1) the short, and
2) faulty ground.

Why should our servicemen NOT be protected by the same basic Ground Fault Interrupt (GFI) circuitry required in the average Motel 6?

Shameful.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

"electrici­aN." Doh!

[TakeSake]

Improper wiring is not a loaded gun. Improper wiring is a machine gun that is firing all the time - with a silencer. All it needs is for someone to get in that stream. There is no warning.

Every inspector I have ever worked with - electrical, plumbing, building - was a real stickler for details and caught all the little oversights that I made. Not that I was doing anything to be cheap, it's just that things can slip by.

There is another thing about all the inspectors I met: they all came out of the trades as part of a union.

[Tonto2]

Deja vous again. Some things never change.

I was in the Air Force in Viet Nam, attached to an Army unit, which meant that I spent a portion of my time living at an Army fire support base.

When you took a shower at the support base, you learned to adjust the water temperature with some non-conductive object - plastic toothbrush case - before you got in. If you touched any of the plumbing while you were in the shower you got zapped if the water heater's heating coil was energized.

Despite numerous complaints - mine and others - the problem was never fixed. So far as I know no one was injured, but that was always a possibility.

[rage]

Deja vu. Not vous. Deja vous is a different experience altogether.

[liveandlearn]

even i know about ground fault interrupters, as they were in the late 1980's. at that time they allowed no more than 1/40 (that's one fortieth) of a second of current in the case that a fault to ground occurred. presumably they are even safer now. they could have saved these soldiers' lives.

[rage]

They would have all the proper equipment they need if Dems would stop screwing with the military budget. You guys can't have it both ways. Libs say that the military is suffering from inadequate equipment or a total lack thereof at the same time your elected officials deny them the very funds (a move most of you support) that would pay for said equipment. Its funny how this inconsistency is oblivious to you guys. It's quite laughable.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Sarcasm?
Or are you that daft?

In point of fact, it has been DEMS bringing up these and similar issues. Repuke would rather beat their chests.

Try Googling "DODD" and "BODY ARMOR."

Fercrissakes.