Report: Water Makes U.S. Troops in Iraq Sick

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

AP: Water Makes US Troops in Iraq Sick
By LARRY MARGASAK – 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says.

A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq. The Pentagon's inspector general found water quality problems between March 2004 and February 2006 at three sites run by contractor KBR Inc., and between January 2004 and December 2006 at two military-operated locations.

It was impossible to link the dirty water definitively to all the illnesses, according to the report. But it said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and the military-run sites "were not performing all required quality control tests." "Therefore, water suppliers exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water," the report said.

The problems did not extend to troops' drinking water, but rather to water used for washing, bathing, shaving and cleaning. Water used for hygiene and laundry must meet minimum safety standards under military regulations because of the potential for harmful exposure through the eyes, nose, mouth, cuts and wounds.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iTPtb56ofIAHMsOzr31uRzsdQjDQD8V9R11O0

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Sneer. Let them drink piss." - Dickie "Five Military Deferments" Cheney

"you don't hear any of us republicon homelander chickenhawks compaining about this. We are all too busy counting up our MASSIVE OIL & MUNITIONS PROFITS. Smirk, sneer."

- Dickie "Five Military Deferments" Cheney

[annabanana]

2. KBR is now attacking our troops directly, rather than

in pieces by having them convoy empty trucks around the desert, and sucking up all the money we are told is going to "the troops"

[sabra]

3. "once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company"

says it all

[tanyev]

4. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful - and so are we.

They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people - and neither do we." George Bush, Aug. 2004.

[AnaA]

19. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful - and so are we.

Thanks for the quote from George. Talk about foot in mouth.

[salin]

5. Good thing we keep giving Halliburton and KBR more and more contracts

they save *so* much money as privatized services *always* do - or so we are told by the rightwingnuts.

[Ian David]

6. Dick Cheney to U.S. Troops: Eat Shit and Die. n/t

[Solly Mack]

7. and....

From 2006

"A U.S. Army doctor serving in Iraq has linked a small outbreak of bacterial infections among U.S. troops to allegedly contaminated water supplied by Houston-based Halliburton Co.

Follow-up testing of the water soldiers were using to bathe, shave and even brush their teeth revealed evidence of coliform and E. coli bacteria, Callahan wrote in an e-mail to a staffer for the Democratic Policy Committee, led by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

Further investigation revealed that the water the troops were using was actually wastewater from a purification unit...

...the report they issued two months later was explosive, warning that troops could have been exposed to "potentially harmful water for an undetermined amount of time."

From 2003

The Pentagon repeatedly warned contractor Halliburton-KBR that the food it served to US troops in Iraq was "dirty," as were as the kitchens it was served in, NBC News reported on Friday.

Halliburton-Kellogg Brown and Root's promises to improve "have not been followed through," according to a Pentagon report that warned "serious repercussions may result" if the contractor did not clean up.

The Pentagon reported finding "blood all over the floor," "dirty pans," "dirty grills," "dirty salad bars" and "rotting meats ... and vegetables" in four of the military messes the company operates in Iraq, NBC said, citing Pentagon documents."



More

2006

Whistleblowers' Stomach-Churning Story Reveals Halliburton Cesspool

2006

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11854311/">Memo: Halliburton failed to purify GIs’ water

"The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said the company failed to assemble and use its own water purification equipment...


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."



2006 - Hearing...Senate...Halliburton....Dity Water...pdf

http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/hearings/hearing30/dorgan.pdf">Oversight Hearing

[thecrow]

8. You'd think that the blood all over the floor

would've tipped them off.
This war has been such a fumblefuck from beginning to .... now.
I hope we don't mess up so badly when we withdraw.
Geez, do reports like this make me crazy.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. The most serious "contaminent" which no one is talking about

is all the depleted uranium scattered everywhere, beginning with Desert Storm and continuing to date.
What an obscene plan, to expose civilians and military to radiation.
The filthy food and water is just an added insult.

[AzDar]

9. K & R....

:kick:

[Hydra]

10. In objective terms, this is insanity

Congress is paying Haliburton BILLIONS, and they won't even give our troops clean water.

Hey Pelosi- still doing "the people's business?"

:puke:

[L0oniX]

11. Should we even mention depleted uranium?

[Joanne98]

12. Cheney is spitting on the troops!

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. "Iraq For Sale"

This is discussed in that movie. It's a must see.

[moodforaday]

26. I was just going to mention this

An expert whose job was to test the water for contaminants in Iraq actually breaks into tears on camera in that movie, talking about how he warned KBR and was shooed off. That footage must be about two years old by now.

[Norrin Radd]

27. Yep. I tell people to watch that doc, but no one ever seems interested.

[Deny and Shred]

15. Cheney cutting costs at every turn.KBR is employing personnel

through a Cayman subsidiary. KBR is not paying FICA, Medicare, Soc Sec from those Americans working for KBR in Iraq. Those employees can't qualify for unemployment either.
KBR gets the no-bid contract to feed from the tax-dollar trough, but can't contribute taxes to the only basic worker protections left.
I assume Cheney still has "other priorities."
There ought to be more military personnel coming out against KBR on this.

[choie]

16. Does anybody know what the government

is able to do to hold these companies accountable for this sort of thing?

[Dr.Phool]

17. There's a lot they could do.

Up to and including execution for treason. But, this administration is not going to do a goddamned thing. All their cronies are in on it.

[bushmeister0]

18. That's bad enough, but what about water here at home?

AP reports:

"A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows...In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky . . . Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public 'doesn't know how to interpret the information' and might be unduly alarmed."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080309/ap_on_re_us/pharmawater_i

How about that? People are swallowing lots of Mother's Little Helpers and its getting peed out, flushed and then they find their way back into the drinking water supply. Whoopse!

AP --

"Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:

_Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.

_Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California."

And this one, in particular, might tend to explain of few things . . .

"The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals."

Only six?

[AnaA]

20. That's bad enough, but what about water here at home?

Thanks for the information. I might start purifying my own water because of it.

[graywarrior]

21. Who needs terrorists when we have pharmaceiticals in the water?

[Harry Monroe]

22. "You go to war with the water you have"

Not with the water you wish you had"

Donald Rumsfeld

[Sam Ervin jret]

24. with the over priced privatized war profiteer water you have (bought)" not wished you had"(bought)

[DFW]

23. Next thing, Babs will come out with a Marie Antoinette line.....

"Let them drink Coke......."

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. Thanks, Chimp.