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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: KBR

KBR stories: 14 news summaries

Defense Dept. Opposed Anti-Rape Rule for Contractors

But lefties ripped GOP senators for nay votes

Oct 20, 09 9:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - When 30 Republicans voted against an Al Franken amendment prohibiting defense contractors from forcing their employees to agree not to sue if they’re raped, Jon Stewart and liberals everywhere went ballistic. But those 30 Republicans weren’t alone, the Huffington Post reports; the Defense Department opposed the amendment as... More »

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Senate • rape • Department of Defense • Jon Stewart • The Daily Show • contract law • Al Franken • Jamie Leigh Jones • KBR • Defense Dept • John Thune • Obama administration • defense contractors

ANALYSIS

 Civilian Contractors Are the 'Vietnam Vets' of Our Time

Workers injured in war zones are the hidden cost of Iraq, Afghanistan wars

Oct 7, 09 7:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Thousands of Americans have come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who are veterans in all but name, writes T. Christian Miller—and the benefits afforded veterans. The military's unprecedented reliance on civilian contractors has left thousands injured and disabled with no safety net or public gratitude. Whether... More »

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veterans • veterans' benefits • Iraq contractors • KBR • Afghanistan veterans • Iraq war • military contractors

US Soldier Held in Iraq
Contractor's Shooting Death

Contractor for Houston-based KBR shot to death, died at 8:30am

Sep 14, 09 5:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - A US soldier is being held in the shooting death of a civilian contractor in Tikrit, Iraq, reports CNN. Houston-based military contractor KBR said the victim shot to death yesterday at Contingency Operating Base Speicher was an employee. More »

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Iraq death toll • US Army • Tikrit • Iraq contractors • shooting • KBR

Halliburton Will Pay $559M
in Nigerian Bribery Fines

The settlement is the second-largest under the current law

Jan 27, 09 9:24 AM CST
(Newser) - Halliburton will shell out $559 million in fines—the largest federal penalty ever paid by a US company for bribery—to the Justice Department and the SEC to settle claims that its former KBR unit greased the palms of Nigerian officials to help get a gas liquefaction facility built, along... More »

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Nigeria • bribery • Halliburton • Siemens • KBR • US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act • kickbacks

 Halliburton, KBR 
 Sued for Sickening 
 Iraq Troops 

Suit charges contractors supplied spoiled food, contaminated water

Dec 4, 08 1:51 AM CST
(Newser) - A lawsuit filed against Halliburton and KBR accuses the military contractors of exposing troops and civilian workers on a US base in Iraq to spoiled food, contaminated water, and toxic fumes from a burn pit, the Military Times reports. The lead plaintiff in the suit said he still has nightmares... More »

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Iraq • US military • Halliburton • military bases • Iraq contractors • KBR

Foreign
Workers
Held in Iraq

Contractor kept 1,000 Asian laborers 3 months in warehouses

Dec 3, 08 7:34 PM CST
(Newser) - About 1,000 foreign workers brought to Iraq with the promise of lucrative jobs have been living for 3 months in Baghdad warehouses under poor sanitary conditions and in possible violation of US military rules, McClatchy reports. A Kuwaiti company that subcontracts with KBR, formerly Haliburton, brought the men from... More »

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Iraq • US military • Halliburton • foreign labor • human trafficking • KBR • subcontractor • Najlaa

Ex Halliburton Exec Pleads Guilty to
$180M Bribery

Cheney man 'won' $6B Nigerian contracts

Sep 4, 08 4:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - A fired Halliburton exec has pleaded guilty to bribing Nigerian government officials, the Wall Street Journal reports. Albert Stanley, CEO of KBR when it was a Halliburton subsidiary, faces up to 7 years in jail and a restitution payment of nearly $11 million. Stanley was appointed by Vice President Dick... More »

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Dick Cheney • Nigeria • bribery • bribe • Halliburton • KBR • oil companies

US Contractor Bills in Iraq
to Hit $100B

Workers outnumber troops, account for
20% of war spending

Aug 12, 08 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - By the end of the year, the US will have spent $100 billion on private defense contractors in Iraq, a congressional report finds, showing more private-sector reliance than any previous wartime. Some 20% of funds spent on the war have gone to contractors, whose numbers are now greater than the... More »

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US military • Halliburton • security contractors • Iraq contractors • KBR • Iraq war • Iraq war spending

OPINION

Clinton: Nothing Immune From Bush's 'Waste, Fraud, Abuse'

Cronyism flourishes under Iraq, Katrina

Aug 6, 08 1:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Bush White House has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on corrupt deals and unaccountable contractors, Hillary Clinton writes in the Wall Street Journal. If America is going to regain fiscal stability, it must "increase transparency" and put an end to practices like "rewarding companies that exploit tax... More »

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Iraq • Hillary Clinton • Hurricane Katrina • contractors • Halliburton • Katrina aftermath • cronyism • KBR • George W. Bush • war profiteers

Army 'Warned on Wiring' Before Soldier's Electrocution

Sergeant filed work order after being shocked in the shower

Jul 31, 08 12:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - A sergeant warned Army administrators about faulty wiring months before a soldier was electrocuted in a shower at the same quarters, CNN reports. "Pipes have voltage, get shocked in the shower," he wrote in a work order. A House committee probing the electrocution deaths in Iraq had previously... More »

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Iraq • US military • electrocution • KBR

Shoddy Electrical Work Killing US Troops in Iraq

Hazard from substandard work worse than Pentagon has acknowledged

Jul 18, 08 4:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Shoddy electrical work by private contractors is making Iraq an even deadlier place for US troops, reports the New York Times. At least 13 troops have died from electrocution and many more have been injured. Others have perished in electrical fires. The problem is worse than the Pentagon has acknowledged,... More »

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Iraq • US military • military bases • electrocution • Iraq contractors • electrical shocks • KBR

Army Overseer Ousted After Rejecting Bogus Iraq Bills

Says he was replaced after vowing not to pay dubious bills

Jun 17, 08 7:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Did a top Army official lose his job for trying to save the Army money? Charles Smith was ousted from his job after refusing to pay then-Halliburton subsidiary KBR more than $1 billion in charges deemed bogus by Army auditors. “They had a gigantic amount of costs they couldn’... More »

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Iraq • Halliburton • Iraq contractors • defense spending • KBR

Iraqis Charge Sex Abuse at British Embassy

Three say KBR contractors routinely harass, grope workers

May 8, 08 9:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Three staff at the British embassy in Baghdad are sexually harassed, bullied, and abused, say three Iraqi ex-employees. A female cleaner and two male cooks detail a brutal work culture overseen by American contractors, according to testimony taken by the embassy and obtained by the Times of London. The cleaner... More »

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Baghdad • sexual harassment • abuse • bullying • embassy • KBR • subcontractor • UK embassy in Baghdad

Women Report Sex Assaults by Contractors in Iraq

Victims say assaults are common and complaints ignored in legal limbo

Feb 13, 08 11:03 AM CST
(Newser) - American women who report being sexually assaulted while working for contractors in Iraq are finding themselves stuck in a legal limbo, reports the New York Times. They are not covered by military laws, and the reach of American laws over US contractors abroad is still unclear. Contractors like KBR require... More »

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Iraq • Iraq contractors • sexual assault • KBR

14 Stories


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