As though members of the U.S. military don't face enough danger while serving in Iraq, their health and safety also are being compromised by incompetence and neglect.

As revealed this month in congressional testimony and in a New York Times investigation, shoddy construction and maintenance done by private contractors have electrocuted 13 Americans. In January of this year, Green Beret Ryan Maseth was shocked to death when he stepped into a shower at his Baghdad base. Meanwhile, subpar work has sparked nearly 300 electrical fires at U.S. military facilities in Iraq. In 2006, two soldiers perished in an electrical blaze at their Tikrit-area base. Many more troops have been injured by shocks.

So, with violence in Iraq at its lowest level in four years, U.S. service members must worry about whether the bathroom is a death trap?

It's appalling that the Pentagon has allowed these conditions to continue, given that military officials have reportedly received ample warning of contractors' substandard work. An Army survey from early 2007 identified electrical problems as the most pressing non-combat hazard for troops serving in Iraq. Another Army memo complained that "exposed wiring, ungrounded distribution panels and inappropriate lighting fixtures" were making military installations "uninhabitable and unsafe." And, according to the Times, soldiers at one Baghdad complex had been complaining almost daily of getting shocked at their living quarters.

It seems no one was listening - at least, not until Maseth's death, which got Congress' attention.

It's also distressing that the private interests didn't prevent and correct the problems themselves. While speaking before a U.S. Senate committee this month, a former employee of Halliburton spinoff KBR described how supervisors ignored safety standards and warnings from experienced electrical workers. Also, KBR and other firms sub-contracted work to novice foreign workers.

Surely, the 10-year, $150 billion contract the Defense Department just awarded KBR for its services in Iraq will allow it to hire more qualified electricians - oh, and some sanitation engineers. Earlier this year the Pentagon's inspector general said KBR provided soldiers with "potentially unsafe" water for washing and bathing.

The electrocutions are symbolic of the way the Pentagon has managed the conflict in Iraq: outsourcing vital occupation functions, such as housing and security, to private interests with little oversight or accountability. That billions of dollars in contracts have been awarded, often without being competitively bid, is a shame. That contractors have apparently put our troops in harm's way is a tragedy.

Peoria Journal Star