The graphic shows penalties paid in the past four years by contractors handling assignments in Iraq. (AP Graphic)

Mon Apr 26
By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Ten companies with billions of dollars in U.S. contracts for Iraq reconstruction have paid more than $300 million in penalties since 2000 to resolve allegations of bid rigging, fraud, delivery of faulty military parts and environmental damage.

The United States is paying more than $780 million to one British firm that was convicted of fraud on three federal construction projects and banned from U.S. government work during 2002, according to an Associated Press review of government documents.

A Virginia company convicted of rigging bids for American-funded projects in Egypt also has been awarded Iraq contracts worth hundreds of millions. And a third firm found guilty of environmental violations and bid rigging won U.S. Army approval for a subcontract to clean up an Iraqi harbor.

Seven other companies with Iraq reconstruction contracts have agreed to pay financial penalties without admitting wrongdoing. Together, the 10 companies have paid to resolve 30 alleged violations in the past four years. Six paid penalties more than once. But the companies have been awarded $7 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts.

“We have not made firms pay the price when they screw up,” said Peter W. Singer, a former Pentagon official who worked on a task force overseeing military and contract work in the Balkans.

“But it’s not the company’s fault if it has a dumb client. I’m not blaming the companies, I’m blaming the government,” said Singer, now a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

The contracts are legal because the Bush administration repealed regulations put in place by the Clinton administration that would have allowed officials to bar new government work for companies convicted or penalized during the previous three years.

Radiation in Iraq Equals 250,000 Nagasaki Bombs
by Bob Nichols
www.dissidentvoice.org
March 27, 2004

As a writer I do not have a set of words to describe what 142 Degrees in the shade is like. I’ve seen 120 D. in Phoenix and 110 D in the spa’s sauna I use. One hundred forty-two degrees leaves me speechless. Try to imagine 142 D temperature while wearing a helmet, long sleeve shirt, long pants, a bullet proof vest, boots, and carrying a 70 pound pack.

By contrast the Inuit of Alaska and Canada have thirty-seven words to precisely talk about different kinds of snow.

So, since the temperature is heating up in Iraq it seemed like a good time to float this story to different Internet sites and news publications. There was one story in 2003 of one 19 year old British soldier whose military job was to work in a British tank. In Iraq. In the summer. Word is, from London, that he forgot to drink enough water and he literally cooked in his tank.

But, this story is not about the temperature in Iraq. You can bet, though, the weather will be really important for those Americans unfortunate enough to still be in Iraq this summer.

This story is about American weapons built with Uranium components for the business end of things. Just about all American bullets, 120 mm tank shells, missiles, dumb bombs, smart bombs, 500 and 2,000 pound bombs, cruise missiles, and anything else engineered to help our side in the war of us against them has Uranium in it. Lots of Uranium.

by MARTIN WILLIAMS
The Herald
February 04 2004

A SCOTS ex-soldier has become the first veteran to win a pension appeal after being diagnosed with depleted uranium (DU) poisoning during the 1991 Gulf war.

A Pension Appeal Tribunal Service hearing in Edinburgh accepted medical evidence provided by Kenny Duncan, of Clackmannan, previously dismissed by the MoD, which revealed he had become ill after service in the Middle East.

Mr Duncan, 35, a driver with 7 Tank Transporter Regiment, helped move tanks destroyed by shells containing the poisonous dust.

He says he has evidence that his children’s health problems are linked to his service. Kenneth, 10, Andrew, eight, and six-year-old Heather, have symptoms similar to those suffered by some Iraqi children, including deformed toes, and low immune systems making them susceptible to asthma, hay fever and eczema.

Ewa Jasiewicz
Occupation Watch
Occupied Basra

DU - What is it?

Depleted Uranium is a highly toxic heavy metal derived from nuclear bomb and fuel waste. It’s heavy weight and pyrophoric qualities cause it to burn-melt like a blowtorch through steel when a DU coated/loaded penetrator, self-sharpening by nature, strikes a hard target. It’s mainly used to incinerate battle tanks, and on contact pulverizes into breathable aerosol-like dust that can travel 26 miles and remains radioactive for 4.5 billion years.

Despite the name “Depleted” Uranium, DU has 60% the radioactivity of natural uranium, which is pure uranium, and all uranium whether “natural”, “depleted” or “enriched” is a chemical and radiological toxic substance emitting alpha, beta and gamma particles, all of which have a destructive effect on the cellular make-up of the human body, ie they attack the human body at the most essential, primary and vital levels.

The following is from January 2001 and contains some errors due to corporate mergers, and may not be completely up to date. If you know of a more updated list please email us at info at vitw dot org

Number of DU patents / Patent Owners

19 WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP
17 HITACHI LTD
17 US ARMY
14 US ENERGY
14 COMMISSARIAT ENERGIE ATOMIQUE
13 TOKIO SHIBAURA ELECTRIC CO
11 STARMET CORP
9 OLIN CORP
8 FRAMATOME & CIE
7 RHEINMETALL GMBH
7 REMET CORP
6 SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORP
6 ELLIOTT GUY R B
6 JERSEY NUCLEAR AVCO ISOTOPES
6 MARWICK EDWARD F
5 SIEMENS AG
5 FRAMATOME SA
5 SCHNEIDER USA INC
4 WESTERN ATLAS INT INC
4 BRITISH NUCLEAR FUELS PLC
4 GEN ELECTRIC
4 NUCLEAR METALS INC
4 PRIMEX TECHNOLOGIES INC
4 UNIV TEXAS
4 US OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED B