Quote :

"WASHINGTON - Halliburton Co. failed to protect the water supply it is paid to purify for U.S. soldiers throughout Iraq, in one instance missing contamination that could have caused “mass sickness or death,”"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11854311/

they get a contract they don't deserve (charging us millions more than any other competitor) and then they put our troops in danger...how hard is it to DO YOUR FUCKING JOB...damn republicans should all be shot for being too stupid/lazy

3/16/2006 10:19:36 AM

THE REPUBLICANS POISONED THE WATER

3/16/2006 10:21:28 AM

no, but they certainly failed to clean up like they're paid to do

3/16/2006 10:26:18 AM

You are an idiot.

3/16/2006 10:27:07 AM

NO-BID CONTRACTS POISONED THE WATER

3/16/2006 10:27:47 AM

^^ please explain

^ twisting my accusation around to something stupid doesn't make you right...or intelligent

3/16/2006 10:29:33 AM

Quote :

"^ twisting my accusation around to something stupid doesn't make you right...or intelligent"

I'm sure the AP shares your sentiment.

3/16/2006 10:31:02 AM

you've yet to explain how i'm an idiot...or unjustified

3/16/2006 10:33:26 AM

wtf are you talking about

3/16/2006 10:33:51 AM

Quote :

"missing contamination that could have caused “mass sickness or death," "

Sounds like they finally found the WMDs...



[Edited on March 16, 2006 at 10:36 AM. Reason : l]

3/16/2006 10:35:49 AM

Quote :

"You are an idiot."

implies that msb2ncsu thinks i'm an idiot

Quote :

"I'm sure the AP shares your sentiment."

implies that msb2ncsu believes that my opinion is unjustified because the story is being skewed in order to criticize halliburton (as if they have a valid excuse for being overpaid and poorly managed)

3/16/2006 10:37:51 AM

Quote :

" Memo: Halliburton failed to purify GIs’ water Internal report says contamination could've caused 'mass sickness or death' WASHINGTON - Halliburton Co. failed to protect the water supply it is paid to purify for U.S. soldiers throughout Iraq, in one instance missing contamination that could have caused “mass sickness or death,” an internal company report concluded. The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said the company failed to assemble and use its own water purification equipment, allowing contaminated water directly from the Euphrates River to be used for washing and laundry at Camp Ar Ramadi in Ramadi, Iraq. The problems discovered last year at that site — poor training, miscommunication and lax record keeping — occurred at Halliburton’s other operations throughout Iraq, the report said. “Countrywide, all camps suffer to some extent from all or some of the deficiencies noted,” Wil Granger, Theatre Water Quality Manager in the war zone for Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary, wrote in his May 2005 report. AP reported earlier this year allegations from whistleblowers about the Camp Ar Ramadi incident, but Halliburton never made public Granger’s internal report alleging wider problems. The water quality expert warned Halliburton the problems “will have to be dealt with at a very elevated level of management” to protect health and safety of U.S. personnel. Company declines to release second report Halliburton said Wednesday it conducted a second review last year that found no evidence of any illnesses in Iraq from water and it believes some of its earlier conclusions were incomplete and inaccurate. The company declined to release the second report. The company said it has “worked closely with the Army to develop standards and take action to ensure that the water provided in Iraq is safe and of the highest quality possible.” Halliburton was headed by Vice President Dick Cheney for several years before he ran for vice president. Its KBR subsidiary, also known as Kellogg Brown & Root, works under contract to provide a number of services to the U.S. military in Iraq, including providing water and purifying it. The contaminated, non-chlorinated water at Ar Ramadi was discovered in March 2005 in a commode by Ben Carter, a KBR water expert at the base. In an interview, Carter said he resigned after KBR barred him from notifying the military and senior company officials about the untreated water. A supervisor at Ar Ramadi “told me to stop e-mailing” company officials outside the base and warned that informing the military “was none of my concern,” Carter said. He said he threatened to sue if company officials didn’t let him be examined to determine whether he suffered medical problems from exposure to the contaminated water. Countrywide problems Granger’s report cited several countrywide problems: * A lack of training for key personnel. “Theatre wide there is no formalized training for anyone at any level in concerns to water operations.” * Confusion between KBR and military officials over their respective roles. For instance, each assumed the other would chlorinate the water at Ar Ramadi for any uses that would require the treatment. * Inadequate or nonexistent records that could have caught problems in advance. Little or no documentation was kept on water inventories, safety stand-downs, audits of water quality, deliveries, inspections and logs showing alterations or modifications to water systems. * Relying on employees the company identified as semiskilled labor, and paid as unskilled workers in the pay structure. The report said the event at Ar Ramadi could have been prevented if KBR’s Reverse Osmosis Units on the site had been assembled, instead of relying on the military’s water production facilities. “This event should be considered a ’near miss’ as the consequences of these actions could have been very severe resulting in mass sickness or death,” Granger wrote. The report said that KBR officials at Ar Ramadi tried to keep the contamination from senior company officials. “The event that was submitted in a report to local camp management should have been classified as a recordable occurrence and communicated to senior management in a timely manner,” Granger wrote. “The primary awareness to this event came through threat of domestic litigation.” Beginning last May, Halliburton said it began using its equipment to remove contaminants, bacteria, and viruses in Ar Ramadi, and disinfect the water with chlorine. The company said KBR has worked closely with the Army to develop safe water standards. It said its subsequent review in August-September 2005 found nonpotable water used for washing “was effectively filtered” to remove at least 99 percent of the parasite giardia and 90 percent of viruses. The Ar Ramadi water also tested negative for bacteria, Halliburton added. "

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11854311/

The whole thing is worth a read.

[Edited on March 16, 2006 at 10:44 AM. Reason : sss]

3/16/2006 10:43:58 AM

^^ Reread the thread and think a little.

[Edited on March 16, 2006 at 10:44 AM. Reason : .]

3/16/2006 10:44:07 AM

^There's only one thing that stands out to me as a justification for you calling him an idiot--he referred to Haliburton employees as Republicans (evidence below). But, seriously, MSB, why not just say that instead of this "read the thread" mystery crap?

Quote :

"JohnHGuth: THE REPUBLICANS POISONED THE WATER"

Quote :

"quagmire02: no, but they certainly failed to clean up like they're paid to do."

[Edited on March 16, 2006 at 10:53 AM. Reason : sss]

3/16/2006 10:46:52 AM

i obviously don't like republicans (which does NOT make me a democrat, just a free-thinking individual)...but i admit that referring to halliburton as republican does not lend validity to my argument

3/16/2006 10:51:31 AM

Quote :

"There's only one thing that stands out to me as a justification for you calling him an idiot--he referred to Haliburton employees as Republicans. But, seriously, MSB, why not just say that instead of this "read the thread" mystery crap?"

People should learn for thenselves and be able to see their own mistakes. I wasn't the only one pointing it out and he still didn't get it. His comment about twisting a point around into something stupid only made things more smirk-worthy. Its not like I was being all that obtuse about it.

3/16/2006 10:52:50 AM

I CAN JUST PICTURE BILL FRIST LOUNGING IN THE EUPHRATES RIGHT NOW

LAZY OL' BILL FRIST

CLEAN THAT WATER!

3/16/2006 10:56:35 AM

Quote :

"they get a contract they don't deserve (charging us millions more than any other competitor) and then they put our troops in danger...how hard is it to DO YOUR FUCKING JOB...damn republicans should all be shot for being too stupid/lazy"

This comment actually didn't set off any alarms with me. When you said "damn republicans should all be shot for being too stupid/lazy," I thought you were referring to Bush and his crew for being too "lazy/stupid" to consider other options for resconstruction in Iraq. But then you had the exchange with JohnHGuth, and I was like, "Oh..."

But for real though, people should read the full article. Shit's wild.

3/16/2006 10:59:06 AM

And to play devil's advocate...

Name ANY other contractor capable of handling huge-ass contracts like the ones that mostly come up in Iraq.

As much as it may sound like a conspiracy, and as incompetent as Halliburton seems to be sometimes, stuff is getting done, and logistics are drastically simplified (they're rebuilding a country over there) over having $ALOT$ smaller contractors each doing a bunch of disparate tasks in a bunch of different places. I shudder to think of the kinds of mistakes our benefactors government would make in trying to manage $ALOT$ contractors instead of just one huge one which already has internal infrastructure for dealing with multiple large-scale deployments.

*crickets*

[Edited on March 17, 2006 at 8:31 AM. Reason : Can't we just use HTML? Or STANDARD UBB code?]

3/17/2006 8:31:26 AM

so because nobody can do it better

they can get away with almost good enough?

3/17/2006 8:34:15 AM

Seriously, just because nobody else can do it (or at least going on that assumption as I don't know which defense contractors we have out there who can do any sort of logistical support for our troops) doesn't excuse piss-poor performance, or even excessive price gouging (I'd expect a little. They are a monopoly, after all, going on this assumption...).

3/17/2006 12:32:38 PM