The problem with such heavy use of contractors is not necessarily that the military has gotten out of certain support functions, it's that we have failed to maintain even sufficient expertise to manage the contracts. It's not clear whether or not the military was managing the water plant contract, but surely the military should have had a civil engineer do a site survey.

If anyone is inclined to think that KBR would never knowingly expose their own workers to contamination, think again. The workers on these projects are not long term KBR employees, but rather third country nationals from other poor nations around the world. They have zero workplace safety or worker's comp.

Thanks for covering this Carla. I was deeply humbled by the testimony of Guardsmen Larry Roberta and Scott Ashby. These certainly don't see themselves as heroes, but they certainly are, and it just breaks my heart to see how KBR, the country and our state have failed them. They are coming forward to help spread the word to help those who haven't been notified yet of the exposure to hexavalent chromium -- one of the most carcincogenic substances know to man.

This bill is a very modest step to mark this grave injustice for history and offer their families a very modest recognition of their pain and sacrifice.

Julie Sullivan of the Oregonian has done some remarkable investigative journalism on this crime. Click here for one of her stories on the topic.

KATU story is here.

We anticipate amending the bill to require the state to pursue recouping payments from KBR.

Audio is <ahref=http: www.leg.state.or.us="" listn="" archive="" archive.2009s="" hrules-200905131500.ram="">here.

or cut and paste from here:

http://www.leg.state.or.us/listn/archive/archive.2009s/HRULES-200905131500.ram

Evidently typepad is having some trouble linking.

FYI, audio starts about seven minutes into the hearing.

KGW story is here.

Again, trouble linking, try cuting and pasting this:

http://www.kgw.com/video/video-index.html?nvid=361366

Kevin, I agree. It is in the same category as treating elder people with real respect and interest. I think that slogan, "the ultimate sacrifice" is a huge turnoff, since, on the whole, nobody around here even thought to ask them to make that sacrifice. It is usually uttered NOT with humility or self-deprecating awareness, but, instead, with the implication of self-righteous fingerpointing at those who would NOT make "the ultimate sacrifice". The level of self-pitying entitlement freighted in the phrase used to cause me to struggle to have much personal caring about militaries - a lot of judgement and Right there.

But in these later years I really do overlook this. For I know something of the lawlessness against which they do protect us. Like it or not, we DO need to understand that this IS the world we live in. Our militaries get pointed where they should not. Yes. And sometimes they are in the muck of it holding away from our shores all that we fear and only half-believe in.

It's not PC for a Lefty like me to say they ARE doing what I will not. But it's true. I fight other wars other ways, for people "they" would as soon beat down. And so it is I make certain ultimate sacrifices: in different lights....

But I guess what I am saying is this: if we did not have fighters out there allowing us to allow them to be weaponized, this WOULD be a different continent to live on. I do believe that.... sad as it is. True and sad.

I still don't believe in war, these wars. Nor most of what our gov't does in the name of what they call peace. BUT I know what it means to be subjected to arrogant, rageful, unhumble criminality or righteousness... and to have no recourse but to survive it.

We have to take care of these vets. It's our duty. If we disrespect them for why they need this help, so much the more to be truly human - step up to the promises and address to the needs. It is the truly Human thing we must do.

The Guard troops have been especially mistreated in these wars. And Hex Chrom.... I thought we UNDERSTOOD about that shit? But, wait... it's a developing nation with a tattered society... that's right: our FDA is barely there for US, and we are funded!

Thanks Carla. THIS is the stuff of substance, glad to see it on BO.

Is this true? That honoring our armed forces is also gauged by how we treat our vets. Just now, the House Committee on Elections, Ethics and Rules heard from several members of the Oregon National Guard who were exposed to hexavalent chromium while serving in Iraq. This is really unacceptable! In relation to nations’ present issues, maybe you did not hear about bank stress test results. These results might determine what banks are going to get help, and which ones are going to not get considered as the right investment for any more recovery funds. Bank of America has the most debt; they have to raise about $34 billion to still be solid. That's far more than most installment loans will cover, that's for sure. Among the mega firms of the banking industry, JP Morgan Chase remains one of the hugest groups that, according to the stress test results, are in relatively good health. Still, it might mean robust short-term loans for those that didn't have well bank stress test results.

Iraq veterans from Oregon seek help

Thank you for taking the time today to listen to my testimony of the account of my tour in Iraq from 2003 through 2004. It was June in the summer of 2003, I was apart of 41st Infantry Brigade 1/162 Co. C when I first came upon the water treatment plants in Basra, Iraq. At this time our mission of Operation Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO) was well on the way. As we were giving our fire mission from day to day we did not know what our missions were till they were giving out in the morning briefing.

In the month of June we escorted the KBR employees on there day to day missions. We were over seeing there protection in and out of Iraq from the oil fields and water treatment plants at Qarmat Ali. On these missions we would secure the vehicles and the people on there job sights as they went about there lives doing there jobs. During this time I observed an abundance of orange like power substance on the ground and covering all of the pipes in area of the water treatment plant. Myself and others at this time was not concerned about the substance because our mission was to focus on attacks from hostel forces in the area.

At the end of March of 2004 we were near the end of our deployment. During our debriefing were we told that we were exposed to sodium dichromate at the water treatment plant in Basra, Iraq. At this meeting we were told that we were not exposed to it long enough to do any damage to us. When I left the Oregon Army National Guard in the summer of 2004 I did not receive any more information about the toxic chemicals.

In the winter 2009 I was shocked to read in the Oregonian that not only had some of my fellow soldiers died from rare forms of cancer but Indiana National Guards men that were in the same place were dying from some of the rare forms of cancer also. After reading this disturbing report and learning about sodium dichromate I called Julie Sullivan at the Oregonian and shared with her that myself and others on my fire team were apart of Operation RIO and that we were at the water treatment plants. At the concern of my members of my fire team I started to make calls to see how they were reacting to the news. Needless to say they were all in shock from the news and wondered why no one from the Oregon Army National Guard had contacted us with this information.

Two weeks later I revived a letter form the Oregon Army National Guard stating that we were exposed to hexavalent chromium a component of sodium dichromate that is a know potent toxin with numerous health effects. At this time I contacted my physician at the veteran’s medical hospital and was scheduled for a pulmonary test. The out come was I have been diagnosed with an unknown upper respiratory problem.

I stand before you today to ask for help for myself and my fellow soldiers that I fought with in the United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom. We fought with duty and honor and served our country. We did this so we could protect the preservation of are right of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Please stand with me to pass this bill to help protect the right of these men and women that serve this great nation of ours.

Scott Ashby

"The enemy," resorted Yossarian with weighted precision, "is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on, and that includes KBR. And don't you forget that, because the longer you remember it, the longer you might live."

Since the "strike" tag doesn't work on this site KBR is a sub for Colonel Cathcart

Its all about the Benjamins, always has been. Dow and Monsanto fought tooth and nail over Agent Orange compensation all the way to the Supreme Court.

For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!” But it’s “Saviour of ’is country” when the guns begin to shoot; An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please; An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool—you bet that Tommy sees!

Carla, thanks for the great update. Hexavalent Chromium is an easily recognizeable hazard. The reports certainly indicate KBR chose to ignore the safety of their contract employees as well as the National Guard protecting them.

Whatever we can do here in Oregon to help them out must be done. Then we must see that KBR is never able to do this to anyone else.

Off-topic comment deleted. And not even a creative one.--Editor

Somehow I have little sympathy for guardsmen who volunteered to kill and maim human beings in an illegal war.

karma, how eloquent of you to show your ignorance by double posting. Thanks.

Oregon guard personeel (both men and women btw) volunteer for the Guard for a variety of reasons. Some are completing national armed service contracts by finishing out their duty in the Guard. They neither volunteer for active duty, not have a say in where they are sent once brought to active duty.

But, hey, you have the freedoms secured by the very people you esouse so much ignorance and hatred towards.

Have a nice day.

I was curious if this has been mentioned on any of the local righty blogs. So far, not a single COBRA blog has mentioned this.

For an extended commentary on the subject, read, "Betraying Our Troops: The Destructive Results of Privatizing War" by Dina Rasor, Robert Bauman.

In reality betrayal of the troops begins the moment we send them off to fight in an illegal or immoral war or, as two-time Medal of Honor winner, Marine General Smedley Butler put it, "for Wall Street and big corporations." Search the Internet for General Butler's book, "War is a Racket."

Given the fact that our government and military leaders order troops into an illegal or immoral wars, we shouldn't be surprised if they betray the troops when they become veterans.

couragetoresist dot org has information about refusing to fight in a war people believe is wrong. It is interesting that the military judge in the trial of Lt. Ehren Watada refused to allow discussion of the legality or illegality of the war. He probably knew the Army would have lost that one, especially if the precedent of the Nuremberg Trials and the Geneva Convention on War were introduced.

Editor: hahaha... editorializing whilst removing off topic moronics? I am LOVING this extraction you now perform on the off-topicsters. Wish you could also perhaps offer curettage services... erm...

I wondered for many years why so much lip service is given to honoring vets while so little of their service related needs are provided. I now think the answer lies here:

Military power in the service of imperialism is extremely expensive, so expensive that imperialism almost never economically benefits the citizens of the imperialistic power. It does benefit certain economic interests, and it can benefit the political class and military brass.

If veterans and given their due care long after the passions of war mongering have faded, the citizenry will notice just how expensive military power is, and just how long-term and far reaching the damage of war making is. This will make future projection of power more difficult.

I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it. - Dwight Eisenhower

Single payer, universal health care would obviate the necessity for special treatment for the military. But that's not the solution that the fixers want.

Karma and people like her will always be attacked as unpatriotic by those who make policy and their supporters. She is right, however.

To all those whose disabilities will be ignored by the war-mongers: Don't go.

"The junk politics practiced by Obama is a consumer fraud. It is about performance.

"It is about lies. It is about keeping us in a perpetual state of childishness. But the longer we live in illusion, the worse reality will be when it finally shatters our fantasies. Those who do not understand what is happening around them and who are overwhelmed by a brutal reality they did not expect or foresee search desperately for saviors. They beg demagogues to come to their rescue. This is the ultimate danger of the Obama Brand. It effectively masks the wanton internal destruction and theft being carried out by our corporate state. These corporations, once they have stolen trillions in taxpayer wealth, will leave tens of millions of Americans bereft, bewildered and yearning for even more potent and deadly illusions, ones that could swiftly snuff out what is left of our diminished open society." (Chris Hedges, Buying Brand Obama, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090503_buying_brand_obama/)

There is a long history of people not giving a damn about the troops.

At dawn on the morning of November 11, 1918 all parties to Britain's Great War for Civilization and Woodrow Wilson's War to End all Wars knew that an armistice to end the war would be signed at 11:00 am that day. Nevertheless, the French, British and American generals (Pershing and MacArthur for the Americans) ordered their troops into battle and to continue fighting and dying for no rational purpose at all until just a few minutes before the armistice was signed. The Germans did the honorable thing and laid down their arms until they had to take them up again in self defense.

More recently, despite it being a very good bet that returning Iraq veterans were suffering some consequences of their service in the first Iraq war, all hands on deck in Washington at the Pentagon and Congress were engaged in a cover up to deny the vets the care they should have received.

Sending the troops off to fight in Iraq in 2003 was another blatant betrayal with this war based on outright lies. When the Washington Post exposed the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed, all of a sudden people in responsible positions jumped up to show how much they cared - even if they didn't give a shit before this came to light and they should have been paying attention.

Now Obama is continuing the pursuit of empire by sacrificing more troops in Afghanistan to get an oil pipeline through to some terminal in Pakistan.

As General Butler said, "War is a racket" and innocent and ill-informed young men and women suit up to become the next generation of cannon fodder.

I need to speak to the fact that the ill-understood Warrior Ethic is alive and well in my native families, particularly of a specific socioeconomic class; but, beyond this, alive and well even in those drafted.

Native vets disproportionately were sent on the most dangerous missions in their units out of the stereotypical misunderstanding of their "magical powers" and "ways and connection with the earth and nature". And, sadly, these young men, once pulled forward upon this immature sentimentalizing on the part of their non-native cmopatriots of ALL colours, they had to stand up to the task from cultural starch as well as personal, manly pride.

I have this directly from brothers of mine of that war, full bloods et. al. who were sent out on LURP and other sorties based SOLELY in these perverted and dehumanizing beliefs of all other cultures that regard native people. It was not just the dominant whities who believed somehow in the extra senses of their native brothers.

And, just as many of my relations characterize a child with a disqualifying condition as "unlucky" because they won't get their warrior/service status after all... there are other reasons why folks end up in service and also in whatever conditions of forced or volitional servitude becomes their fate.

Then, to put injury upon injury, they come back and are forced to use IHS as first tx of resort. Sitting in waiting rooms for eight or ten hours to be seen at ill-run clinics -- IF they are so lucky as to dwell on a reserve with a fully=funded IHS facility, that is...

It's ugly down at the numeric bottom of the heap. There where the guilt is strongest, also is the most destructive sentimentality (reaction formation, and still dehumanizing).

First I would like to say to people who think we are looking for sympathy is. I don't want or need any from you. Second, the people who say this war is wrong, did not see the people of Iraq and talk to them. You can do and say whatever you want, but you will not be able to to take my memories of all the Iraqi people who hugged me and thanked me, and the kids who surrounded our vehicles giving us flowers and blowing us kisses. These people needed help, the coalition gave them that help, albeit a little late. I do not glorify war in any sense of the word, I once heard a comment that said "War never determines who is right, it only determines who is left". Boy, isnt that the truth!!

Now as far as the Sodium Dichromate, if you pay someone to do a job, dont you want it done right? Would you pay someone to mow your lawn if they just mowed half and left the rest? Of course you would not, remember KBR was supposed to be the best to do this job, and they didnt know? Who else did we contact to try to do this job? I believe us as taxpayers got ripped off, and after your friends started getting sick, and one died and you find out years later that this could have been averted...what would you say and feel? You are right, I believe this war is partly about oil, it is big money. But when you impose sanctions on a country like Saddam's regime, he is gonna take advantage of it.

Why you ask, because supplies have just become more limited and he was accepting bribes for oil contracts and that means more money for HIM, not his people...It is no wonder he and his sons would not leave when told to by then President Bush...would you if you had that kind of racket set up? When i would talk to iraqi citizens about their country, they are proud...they will now have a chance to determine their own destiny, and they would tell me that they wished Americans would stay, because they are afraid, they could not fathom what freedom was.

So people on this board and elsewhere, I do not take offense to your comments about sympathy and the like, that is what this country stands for...FREEDOM!. While yes I did voluntarily enlist and went to Iraq with the possibility of having to kill Iraqi soldiers, I also went with the possibility of being killed myself. Since I live in the U.S. I owe it a great debt I can never repay and if you were to see some of the countries I have been to, you would know exactly what I mean. The great generation of WWII passed the torch of freedom to the people of the world who desperately wanted it. Because of them and all Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen of the U.S. past present and future it is imperative that the torch be passed on to those who need it. I will leave you with one more thought. One of my favorite Zen quotes is by Lao Tzu says... "To see what is right and not do it is cowardice"

Larry Roberta

Looks like some 'wrongs' don't get righted as easily as they were promised.

from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_guantanamo

Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

"WASHINGTON – In a major rebuke to President Barack Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and denied the administration the millions it sought to close the prison.

The 90-6 Senate vote — paired with similar House action last week — was a clear sign to Obama that he faces a tough fight getting the Democratic-controlled Congress to agree with his plans to shut down the detention center and move the 240 detainees......"

96-0, blue people.

Explain yourselves.

<h2>Your holier-than-thou blue senators have denied the moral basis on which they claimed superiority to George Bush.</h2>