Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Adam Hermanson, electrocuted in Iraq
Both the State Department and its defense contractor have been faulted for problems related to the security of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. Guards hired to protect the embassy were found living in crowded, unsafe conditions at Camp Olympia, and some were forced to work more than a month without a day off.
The contractor, Triple Canopy, which was awarded a $438 million contract in July 2005, was also criticized for hiring guards and supervisors who spoke different languages and could not communicate with each other.
Guards have had to work an average of 10 to 11 consecutive days, and some as many as 39 days in a row.
Problems with the guards’ living quarters included rooms accommodating four times the number of people allowed and exposed wiring that led to at least one fatal electrocution. In fact, at least sixteen U.S. soldiers have died of electrocution in Iraq.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
POGO Releases Previously Unreleased State Department IG Audit: Shortcomings in State’s Oversight of Baghdad Embassy Security Force (Project on Government Oversight)
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security Baghdad Embassy Security Force (State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Inspector General) (pdf)
The Death of Adam Hermanson (by Jeremy Scahill, The Nation)
Another Mysterious Electrocution Death in Iraq (by Jeremy Scahill, The Nation)
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