» KBR sent convoy despite knowing danger; 6 die; many injured Ms Sparky

KBR sent convoy despite knowing danger; 6 die; many injured

November 19, 2009 — Ms Sparky

Burning Truck-1

E-mails show KBR feared casualties before deadly attack

By MARY FLOOD
Nov. 18, 2009, 6:17PM

KBR security personnel expected casualties the night before six civilian drivers were killed and others injured in an Iraq ambush, but went ahead with the convoy, according to e-mails presented in a Houston federal court today.

“There is a ton on intel stating tomorrow will be a bad day,” wrote George Seagle, KBR’s director of security in the Middle East, the night before the April 9, 2004 attacks. In the e-mail presented in court he suggested KBR halt convoys for the next day. .

KBR security force member Keith Richard also expressed concerns about casualties in an e-mail the day before the attacks. But later that night, he wrote, “If the military pushes, we push.”

Seagle responded that he understood the pressures of politics and contract issues but added, “I think we will get people injured or killed tomorrow.”

Plaintiff lawyer Scott Allen also presented e-mails from the day of the attacks.

“Today ought to be the worst day,” wrote Craig Peterson, an ex-military man who worked for KBR and gave the OK for the convoys to roll.

The e-mails, most of which had been under seal, were revealed in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Gray Miller to determine whether he will let a jury hear three lawsuits against KBR.

Plaintiffs allege the company is liable for knowingly sending civilian contractors into an active battle zone.

KBR lawyers have argued that the military and the civilian company were intertwined and that federal law prohibits courts from second-guessing military decisions.

The cases center on the April 2004 insurgent attack on a KBR convoy of military supply trucks, which killed six civilian truck drivers and wounded 14.

The truck drivers caught in the ambush were delivering fuel under a multibillion-dollar contract called the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or Logcap, under which KBR transported supplies, built bases, served meals and provided other logistical support services for U.S. troops in the Middle East.

Two workers injured and the family of one killed in the attack allege that KBR told the workers when they were recruited that they’d be kept out of combat areas, but sent the convoy on a route known to be dangerous.

Judge Miller tossed out all three suits once before, agreeing with KBR’s argument that the court could not try a case questioning wartime military decisions.

But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the cases back, ruling it may be possible to try the cases without making a “constitutionally impermissible review of wartime decision-making.” (click HERE for original article)

SO MUCH FOR KBR’S UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO THE SAFETY OF THEIR EMPLOYEES!

Ms Sparky’s