Were Troops Poisoned? Vets Demand KBR Come Clean on Toxins in Iraq

January 11, 2009

Here is something I found on Huffingtonpost. Comes to mind in the

discussion of voting on End Corporate Personhood

Gentry served his country honorably as a battalion commander

in Iraq. Now, he is dying of a rare form of lung cancer. And he's not

the only one. A troubling number of troops in Gentry's Indiana

National Guard unit have bloody noses, tumors and rashes. And

tragically, one soldier has already died.

New reports suggest these injuries may be the result of exposure to

toxins at a KBR-run power plant in Southern Iraq. In 2003, and

his men were responsible for guarding that plant, and protecting

KBR's employees. The soldiers were stationed there for months before

being informed that the site was contaminated with a chemical known

as hexavalent chromium.

Hexavalent chromium is a deadly carcinogen. It's the same toxin that

Brockovich became famous for campaigning against. believes

that it was the inhalation of this chemical that caused his cancer,

and the other rare illnesses among the Guardsmen who served at the

plant.

But this is not just some sad story about accidental chemical

exposure. This is a question of responsibility. CBS News has

uncovered evidence that KBR may have known about the contamination at

the power plant months before it took any action to inform the troops

stationed there.

If the CBS story is proven true, checks need to be written, contracts

should be cancelled, and heads must roll. signed up to serve

his country, and he was told to protect KBR contractors. He did his

job. But it doesn't seem like KBR did theirs. If the company

neglected to take quick and decisive action, it must be held

responsible for the months of avoidable toxic exposure that may be

taking the lives of American servicemembers.

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