Four U.S. civilian contractors killed in accident (Al Asad Air Base, Iraq)

[Barrett808]

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Four U.S. civilian contractors were killed in a non-hostile vehicle accident aboard Al Asad Air Base Jan 1.

The contractors were riding in a bus which was hit by a 7-ton truck.

Eighteen civilians were injured, nine requiring hospitalization. Eight of those were medically evacuated to Baghdad and the ninth was taken to a combat hospital north of Baghdad. One Marine was also slightly injured in the mishap.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

The names of the deceased and injured are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/Releases/Jan/060102a.htm

[Greeby]

1. Accident? hmmm

Didn't I read a report somewhere that some pissed-off soldiers grabbed some of these contractors, and beat the ever-loving snot out of them? :shrug:

[daleo]

2. It doesn't say who was driving the truck

I believe locals sometimes do this deliberately, if they have a good weight advantage. It seems to be another form of resistance to occupation.

[TheWraith]

6. I would guess that the Marine was driving the truck

It was a civilian bus, but they say one Marine was slightly injured, so I would have to make a guess that the Marine was driving the truck.

[daleo]

7. I meant the other vehicle, the 7-ton truck that hit the bus.

I think sometimes the Iraqis (or Afghanis) drive trucks head-on into U.S. (or allied forces) vehicles. For example, I recall that a Canadian vehicle in Afghanistan had to avoid a head-on collision with a civilian truck, causing an accident with injuries to the soldiers.

[Name removed]

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[MaineDem]

10. They still have families that grieve

:(

[saigon68]

12. So do the victims and children

They KILLED

So do the citizens whose POCKETS they are strip mining, who can't feed and clothe their families.


So do the old people waking up this morning in pain, with NO MEDICINE, because the War Criminals who run this country are spending $2,000.00 a day employing these slugs

[MaineDem]

13. Some of these "slugs" are building schools and hospitals

Some of them are hired guns. They aren't all the same.

And I hate the fact that they're there - that anyone is losing life over there. But I can't diminish the grief any child is feeling at the loss of a parent. Or a parent at the loss of a child - whether it be an Iraqi, a soldier, or a ccntractor.

Hate the situation all you want and blame Bush for all the suffering but I can still sympathize with those who have lost family members.

[leftchick]

19. Most of them are hired guns

there has been very little reconstruction going on. As a matter of fact the US announced over the weekend they are done with Iraq reconstruction. There are well over 75,000 US "contractors" in Iraq and the vast majority are mercenaries like these Blackwater guys protecting the ex-viceroy.







I for one am furious my tax dollars are spent on this scum.

[MaineDem]

20. I only know what I'm told first hand

I suppose my friend who is there could be lying.

He's been building a water treatment plant.

I don't care what the press is reporting.

[leftchick]

21. I would believe him

there are areas in the North where rebuilding could be happening. But on the whole most of Iraq is not being helped at all.

Here is the link to the end of Iraq reconstruction. I believe it because I think they will use the money for an attack on Iran....

Bush pulls the plug on Iraq reconstruction

$18bn funding to stop at end of year

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Tuesday January 3, 2006
The Guardian


The Bush administration has scaled back its ambitions to rebuild Iraq from the devastation wrought by war and dictatorship and does not intend to seek new funds for reconstruction, it emerged yesterday.
In a decision that will be seen as a retreat from a promise by President George Bush to give Iraq the best infrastructure in the region, administration officials say they will not seek reconstruction funds when the budget request is presented to Congress next month, the Washington Post reported yesterday.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,16518,1676913,00.html

[Name removed]

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[HuffleClaw]

4. 'contractors' my foot

hired guns. mercenaries. this 'contractors' business is just wrong. why the media plays along i do not know.

[MaineDem]

5. A local man is over there doing engineering work

I don't think it's right for him to be there but I still sympathize with his wife, worrying about his safety. He's due home for good later this month. I hope to hell he wasn't one of these.

[0007]

8. Turning the corner in slow motion

RIP

[goforit]

9. What would anyone have against paid military contractors???

[MrSlayer]

11. These guys are professional paid killers, not soldiers.

They don't have to be there, they want to be there to ply their "trade". I haven't got much sympathy for them. Live by the sword and die by it.

[MaineDem]

14. I agree, they aren't soldiers but they aren't killers either - not all

Some are legitimate civil engineers building roads and buildings. Water treatment plants for example. And they don't carry weapons.

Granted, they are there for the bucks and I resent that but they aren't all killers.

[Maddy McCall]

16. Why resent that they are there for the money.

Isn't that why most people work? For the money?

My friend who's in Iraq is paid well, whether he's in Iraq, the Gulf of Mexico, or Venezuela. He does a very dangerous job (pipe snubbing), and he deserves the pay he gets.

He has two children to feed and a bitch of an ex-wife to support (alimony). For a Mississippi boy, he's doing quite well, financially.

I can't understand all of the villainizing of people who accept the risks as well as the pay to work in Iraq. If I had a marketable skill, I'd be over there, myself, working off some of my student loans.

(I saw your earlier posts, and I agree with you--but I don't know why working for money is considered bad.)

[MaineDem]

17. I shouldn't have generalized

But some are there only as war profiteers. Not all of them, you're absolutely right.

I'm actually conflicted about this myself.

[Maddy McCall]

18. I appreciate your posts in this thread.

I live in Mississippi. My guy friend is bringing home upwards of $250,000/yr. Doctors in Mississippi don't even make that kind of money. The risk of being in Iraq is no worse than the risks he's experienced anywhere else--because the risk is the job he does. If you have a moment, read up on what pipe snubbing is. It's the most dangerous job in the oil business.

Carey knows that he faces his own mortality each time he climbs to the top of a rig. Being in Iraq and the danger that presents is only secondary to the danger he faces everyday in his job.


:hi: Oh, and Good Morning, MaineDem.