Sens. want Gates meeting about electrocutions - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Sens. want Gates meeting about electrocutions

Two senators investigating the electrocution deaths of soldiers in Iraq are demanding a face-to-face meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates to discuss the prolonged investigation and why no one has been sanctioned or punished.

Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., said there are about 18 questionable deaths of soldiers electrocuted on Army bases in Iraq and many other reports of electric shocks and burns that involve work done by contractors. Three of the deaths happened in showers and one when a soldier was power-washing a vehicle.

The Army, which had told families the electrocution deaths were isolated incidents, launched an investigation after the Democratic Policy Committee, chaird by Dorgan, held a hearing in July in which families of two soldiers electrocuted in showers and a former employee of the company responsible for overseeing electrical work testified that these were not isolated incidents and that the contractor, KBR, was not adequately supervising local electricians.

Results of the investigation are not complete, but the family of one soldier, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, was notified in December that Maseth’s death, initially listed as “accidental,” was now considered “negligent homicide.” Maseth was killed Jan. 2, 2008, on his second deployment to Iraq, when he was electrocuted in a shower. He was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group.

Dorgan said he and Casey are seeking a private meeting with Gates because they want “accountability” — determining who is responsible for faulty electrical wiring, and disbarring, sanctioning or fining them.

The ongoing investigations lack credibility, Dorgan said, because the contractor overseeing the electrical work, KBR, has been helping with the investigation, making it “far from independent.”

“It is time for straight talk,” Dorgan said.

“It is time for this new administration to take a fresh look at this,” Casey said. “We need … results, not just promises and not just investigations.”