Faulty wiring a problem at bases

WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- At least two U.S. soldiers have been killed by faulty wiring at bases in Iraq since the Army warned commanders about the problem, The New York Times reports.

The first bulletin, issued in 2004, followed the deaths of two soldiers -- one electrocuted in a shower and the other in a swimming pool. Both deaths were caused by short circuits in improperly grounded wiring.

Several electricians who worked in Iraq for KBR, the contractor that maintains bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, said they warned about the work done by poorly paid and trained Iraqi and Afghan employees. One told the Times, providing e-mails to back up his story, that he had warned that logs showed safety systems were in place that had never been installed.

KBR warned the Pentagon in early 2007 there was a problem at a base near the Baghdad airport. A soldier was later electrocuted there.

Keith Ernst, who just stepped down as head of the Defense Contract Management Agency, said the agency is "stretched too thin" in Iraq and lacks the expertise and resources to oversee contracts like KBR's.