Coyuntura Socio-Política

Luis Mejía comparte desde New York esta información sobre un acuerdo secreto con KBR en la invasión a Iraq, para proteger al mayor contratista de responsabilidad  por envenenamiento de soldados estadounidenses en la guerra que el gobierno estadounidense desarrolló en este país ocupado aduciendo entre otros el pretexto de albergar armas y depósitos nucleares, y producir el derrocamiento y "ajusticiamiento" de un antiguo aliado, Sadam Hussein. N d la R.

KBR SECRET INDEMNITY AGREEMENT

January 24, 2013

politics

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KBR Secret Indemnity Agreement Signed By Army Chief Tainted In Enron Scandal




WASHINGTON -- The Army official who signed a secret agreement that

military contractor KBR claims should burden taxpayers with the bill

for the company's negligent poisoning of U.S. soldiers in Iraq

resigned from the military in 2003 after a tenure marked by questions

about his ties to Enron Corp.



Thomas E. White, named secretary of the Army in 2001, signed an

indemnity agreement protecting KBR, the military's largest contractor,

from legal liability on March 19, 2003. KBR had asked for the

agreement as part of its contract to rebuild Iraq oilfields destroyed

in the U.S. invasion. White resigned a month later, on April 23, under

fire for his previous role as a senior Enron executive and after

clashing with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over his

advocacy for a multi-billion dollar artillery system.



KBR's indemnity agreement, obtained by The Huffington Post through a

Freedom of Information Act request, was classified as secret until

Dec. 21, 2012, the month after a federal jury in Oregon decided the

company should pay $85 million for negligence that allowed a dozen

soldiers to be exposed to a cancer-causing chemical sodium dichromate

at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant in Iraq.



The agreement, never made public until now, is crucial because KBR

claims it means taxpayers have to pay both the verdict and the

company's $15 million in legal expenses. The company faces a separate

lawsuit filed by national guardsmen from both Indiana and West

Virginia, as well as troops from the U.K. The military has said it

believes the agreement doesn't shield KBR from paying for the

lawsuits.



It's not known how many defense contractors have secret

indemnification agreements with the government. While most federal

agencies are not allowed to enter open-ended indemnification

agreements, the Pentagon is exempt under an executive order signed by

President Richard Nixon in 1971. 



An amendment to the 2013 National

Defense Authorization Act pushed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) now

requires the Pentagon to disclose indemnification clauses that hold

military contractors harmless and to justify the agreements to

Congress.



White wrote in his 2003 memo granting KBR the indemnity that he

"considered the availability, costs and terms of private insurance to

cover these risks, as well as the viability of self-insurance, and

have concluded that adequate insurance to cover the unusually

hazardous risks is not reasonably available." He said he had no clue

how much the indemnity agreement could cost taxpayers.



"It is not possible to determine the actual or estimated cost to the

Government as a result of the use of an indemnification clause since

the liability of the Government, if any, will depend upon the

occurrence of an incident related to the performance of the contract,"

White wrote. The agreement was necessary to "facilitate the national

defense," he said.



White, currently a partner at DKRW Energy, did not respond to

HuffPost's request for comment.



White maintained he knew nothing about Enron's efforts to manipulate

energy prices in the California power crisis in 2000 and 2001. His

sale of millions of dollars in Enron stock in 2001 came under

investigation by federal authorities, but no charges were ever

brought. White said he was required to sell his stock under government

ethics rules. The Pentagon's inspector general also investigated

whether White and his wife used a military jet for personal travel.



The 2003 agreement between the Army and KBR protects the contractor

from financial costs associated with unusually hazardous risks

including the "sudden or nonsudden release of hydrocarbons or other

toxic or hazardous substances or contaminants into the environment."



A KBR spokesman previously told HuffPost the company "is confident

that it will prevail in enforcing the U.S. government’s legal

obligations.” One lawyer representing soldiers in their lawsuit

against KBR said the agreement amounted to a "pretty good bailout" for

the company.