My Email to Various Representatives and Officials on the Irresponsibility of Private Contractors in Iraq

Today I read of the deaths of Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth and Staff Sergeant Christopher Everett. They died in Iraq not from enemy ordinance but from needless American incompetence. These two Sergeants were electrocuted to death by electrically-charged water. Maseth's "burnt and smoldering" body was found under still-running, electrically charged water by a fellow soldier who kicked down the door of the bathroom at an army base in Baghdad, Cheryl Harris(his mother) told a hearing of the Senate Democratic policy committee. "On September 7, 2005, Chris was power-washing a Humvee... when he was instantly killed by an electrical shock," his mother said. The families of these two soldiers along with ex-KBR employees and several lawyers are accusing KBR of recklessly causing the deaths of these and 13 other American soldiers serving in the Iraqi War Zone.

It is the responsibility of the Congress of the United States of America to ensure that the contractors selected for service in America's War Zones are of the greatest quality, ability, and integrity. How can something such as this be allowed to happen not once or twice but 15 times. This does not even scratch the surface of the sea of abuses that have taken place at the hands of the contractors used by the United States Government in its War in Iraq. This is just one on the long list of abuses which include but are not limited to over billing, incompetence, and failure to perform the contracted duties.

I do hereby inquire as to why it is that those mothers are testifying in front of the Democratic Policy Committee and not in front of my representation in the Congress. The Republican Party has long proclaimed itself a truly patriotic group who fight for the soldiers who serve our nation by acquiring funding and support for them and their families etc. etc. etc. How is it then that nothing has been done about this nor any of the abuses that have occurred. It is time for the process to stop. No-bid contracts and the like which has propelled certain members of the Military Industrial Complex into extreme profits at the cost of the American People and the soldiers in the field.

Respectfully,
Tim Spires
Huntsville, AL