They are unrealized casualties of the Iraq war. Thousands of civilian contractors, lured by salary and opportunity, that work in a country fractured by violence. Darrell Wetherbee of New Gloucester was one; he was killed Sunday by a sniper’s bullet in Tikrit.
Contractors, like the company that employed Wetherbee, have been a lightning rod for controversy since the start of the Iraq conflict in 2003. Allegations of influence-peddling and wasteful spending have marked their presence from the battlefields of the desert to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Close scrutiny of contractors in Iraq is an absolute necessity, both for the interests of taxpayers at home and personnel in the field. Progress made by contractors tasked with rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure is integral in pursuing closure to the war.
As Wetherbee’s wife and three children mourn his loss, hearings on Capitol Hill this week examined the treatment of employees by government contractors in Iraq. On Monday, a congressional committee heard from truck drivers and administrative staff who spoke of reckless and allegedly fraudulent behavior by their employer, KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the largest contractor working in Iraq.
Survivors of an ambushed convoy have sued KBR in federal court, alleging the company deliberately sent trucks into an area rife with skirmishes between U.S. forces and insurgents. Seven contractors were killed, and seven injured, in the April 9, 2004, attack, according to The Washington Post.
Of the approximately 75,000 government contractors in Iraq, 428 have been killed and nearly 4,000 wounded, according to November 2005 statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor. DynCorp International, the security company that employed Wetherbee, said it has lost 29 of its personnel during the war.
Stories such as Darrell Wetherbee’s are heart-wrenching examples of the untold costs of conflict. The companies that compete for government contracts have a responsibility to fulfill their obligations and protect their people in a war zone.
And Congress needs to watch these contractors closely, for their poor practices carry a terrible price.
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