Yep. We have so much regard for human life that we (easily) let ourselves be talked into starting a war that has, so far, killed 1.2 million. (http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/). Some might take the fact that "billy ross" mentioned only the 4,094 U.S. dead (as of 6/8/08) as proof that U.S. concern about casualties is selective.

BTW, the story concerns a U.S. contractor's retrofitting of an Iraqi building for U.S. use. So, whoever built it, it's our problem now. A metaphor for the whole country.

__________________
"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected." G.K. Chesterton

Electrical Risks at Bases Are Worse Than Said

Meanwhile, KBR stock holding steady ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/wo...18891c&ei=5087

WASHINGTON — Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United
States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing
more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has
acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.

During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 —
at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military
facilities in Iraq, including the military's largest dining hall in
the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two
soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006,
the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a
burning guard tower in May 2007.

And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have
been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some
seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled
earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that
soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living
quarters on an almost daily basis.

Electrical problems were the most urgent noncombat safety hazard for
soldiers in Iraq, according to an Army survey issued in February 2007.
It noted "a safety threat theaterwide created by the poor-quality
electrical fixtures procured and installed, sometimes incorrectly,
thus resulting in a significant number of fires."

The Army report said KBR, the Houston-based company that is
responsible for providing basic services for American troops in Iraq,
including housing, did its own study and found a "systemic problem"
with electrical work.

But the Pentagon did little to address the issue until a Green Beret,
Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth, was electrocuted in January while
showering. His death, caused by poor electrical grounding, drew the
attention of lawmakers and Pentagon leaders after his family pushed
for answers. Congress and the Pentagon's inspector general have begun
investigations, and this month senior Army officials ordered
electrical inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR.

"We consider this to be a very serious issue," Chris Isleib, a
Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday in an e-mail message, while
declining to comment on the findings in the Army documents.

Heather Browne, a KBR spokeswoman, would not comment about a company
safety study or the reports of electrical fires or shocks, but she
said KBR had found no evidence of a link between its work and the
electrocutions. She added, "KBR's commitment to the safety of all
employees and those the company serves remains unwavering."

In public statements, Pentagon officials have not addressed the scope
of the hazards, instead mostly focusing on the circumstances
surrounding the death of Sergeant Maseth, who lived near Pittsburgh.

But the internal documents, including dozens of memos, e-mail messages
and reports from the Army, the Defense Contract Management Agency and
other agencies, show that electrical problems were widely recognized
as a major safety threat among Pentagon contracting experts. It is
impossible to determine the exact number of the resulting deaths and
injuries because no single document tallies them up. (The records were
compiled for Congressional and Pentagon investigators and obtained
independently by The Times.)

The 2007 safety survey was ordered by the top official in Iraq for the
Defense Contract Management Agency, which oversees contractors, after
the October 2006 electrical fire that killed two soldiers near Tikrit.
Paul Dickinson, a Pentagon safety specialist who wrote the report,
confirmed its findings, but did not elaborate.

Senior Pentagon officials appear not to have responded to the survey
until this May, after Congressional investigators had begun to ask
questions. Then they argued that its findings were irrelevant to
Sergeant Maseth's electrocution.

In a memo dated May 26, 2008, a top official of the Defense Contract
Management Agency stated that "there is no direct or causal
connection" between the problems identified in the survey and those at
the Baghdad compound where Sergeant Maseth died.

But in a sworn statement, apparently prepared for an investigation of
Sergeant Maseth's death by the Army's Criminal Investigative Division,
a Pentagon contracting official described how both military and KBR
officials were aware of the growing danger from poor electrical work.

In the statement, Ingrid Harrison, an official with the Pentagon's
contracting management agency, disclosed that an electrical fire
caused by poor wiring in a nearby building two weeks before Sergeant
Maseth's death had endangered two other soldiers.

"The soldiers were lucky because the one window that they could reach
did not have bars on it, or there could have been two other
fatalities," Ms. Harrison said in the statement. She said that after
Sergeant Maseth died, a more senior Pentagon contracting official in
Baghdad denied knowing about the fire, but she asserted that "it was
thoroughly discussed" during internal meetings.

Ms. Harrison added that KBR officials also knew of widespread
electrical problems at the Radwaniya Palace Complex, near Baghdad's
airport, where Sergeant Maseth died. "KBR has been at R.P.C. for over
four years and was fully aware of the safety hazards, violations and
concerns regarding the soldiers' housing," she said in the statement.
She added that the contractor "chose to ignore the known unsafe
conditions."

Ms. Harrison did not respond to a request for comment.
Arkansas National Guard.