Sources: Contractor for military committed serious violations

A contractor providing services to the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan has committed serious violations of its contract, mainly by conducting inadequate inspections of electrical wiring and grounding at American bases, according to Pentagon sources.

The Pentagon findings on Houston, Texas-based KBR stem from the widely publicized death of Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a highly decorated 24-year-old Green Beret from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Maseth was electrocuted while taking a shower at his base in Baghdad.

His January 2 death was just one of many deaths now believed to be linked to shoddy electrical work done at U.S. bases, managed by U.S. contractors, according to Pentagon sources.

The Pentagon's Defense Contract Management Agency recently gave KBR a "Level III Corrective Action Request" -- issued only when a contractor is found in "serious noncompliance" and just one step below the possibility of suspending or terminating a contract, Pentagon officials said.

In KBR's case, it means that the contractor's inspections and efforts to ensure electrical safety for troops have been unacceptable, and must be significantly improved, Pentagon sources told CNN.

Just after Maseth's electrocution, Pentagon officials estimated that about a dozen troops had been electrocuted in Iraq. But Pentagon officials now say at least 18 troops have been electrocuted since 2003 -- many due to faulty wiring and improper grounding.

The number could be higher than that when Afghanistan is included, say congressional sources.

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Danielle Brian, the executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington-based watchdog group, said accountability is needed, but difficult to come by when KBR's contract is so integral to the Iraq war.

"The problem, of course, is it's such a big contract," Brian said. "The government's in a place -- the Pentagon's in a place where they say, 'How can we suspend KBR? They're sort of running the show over there.' "

"It's so big -- it's too big to cancel that contract or suspend them from future contracts," she added.

Brian said the action against KBR amounts to "nothing more than a slap on the wrist" for a company with an estimated $24 billion contract for its work in Iraq. She pointed out that KBR's government contract is paid for by U.S. taxpayers.

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