DC Bureau

KBR Denied $20 million; Less than a Time Out but More than a Slap on the Wrist

The greatest risk for in Iraq didn’t come from enemy fire. Maseth was electrocuted to death due to U.S. private military contractor KBR Inc.’s shoddy electrical work. Now, for the first time, KBR is losing millions of dollars as a consequence. The Army decided to deny KBR bonuses, which were routinely awarded to the firm for “excellent” work.

According to KBR’s Security and Exchange Commission 8-K filing, they have been denied $20 million so far. Barry Piatt, press secretary for Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), said, “The AP reported the figure at $25 million, but we are not sure where they got that figure.” If KBR’s SEC filing is accurate, $20 million could be just the beginning. If this review process continues, they’re expecting to lose $132 million in award fees for their work from January 2008 through December 2009.  A press release from the Democratic Policy Committee on Thursday said that this is the “right call,” but only a “first step.” Senator Dorgan, the soon to retire chairman of the DPC, sat through 21 hearings about waste, fraud and corruption in military contracting since 2003. His countless hours listening to accounts of KBR’s “widespread sloppy contracting work that killed soldiers,” impacted KBR little, until now.  Dorgan said that the Army’s decision “will send a long overdue message to military contractors that they will be held accountable for their performance, but the Army needs to send that message much more powerfully.”

Thank you internet trolls: Or how to stop worrying and learn to love anonymous attacks from complete hacks on forums

We were unsurprised by the comments, the internet being the ultimate bastion of anonymous invective, but the organization and speed of these attacks were alarming. After a dig through the site analytics, it wasn’t too hard to spot the forum that was probably responsible for the attacks on the story. It isn’t unusual for us to get calls from corporate hacks that take issue with our articles (Nestle), but this new brand of grassroots attack is a different animal.