DRIFTGLASS SAID IT...

DRIFTGLASS KNOWS...JUST LIKE THE SHADOW

The following is from a fellow blogger named Driftglass. Many of us in the blogsphere urged him to start his own blog because so many of his commentaries were being featured on Steve Gilliard's blog and he's deadly with the written word. I apologize for some of the language, but, hey, I've copied the Rude Pundit on this blog, and you haven't complained. Yet.

"Let them eat cake…and wash it down with ass water."

How much do Republicans love our troops?

So much that they lie them into Iraq with no way out in the first place.

So much that they can’t be bothered to put enough of them on the ground to put out the insurgent hellfire they unleashed.

So much that they fuck them out of their benefits.

So much they mock their mothers when they want straight answers about why their sons had to die.

So much they slander them and question their honor and service when veterans stand up and demand an accounting of Republican lies and treachery.

So much that they let them die to save a few bucks on proper armor for their vehicles and their bodies.

So much that they can't be bothered join in fighting the Iraqi War they created from scratch and cheerlead so loudly.

And now this -- so much that they make them drink toilet water...

Halliburton Cited in Iraq Contamination

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago
Troops and civilians at a U.S. military base in Iraq were exposed to contaminated water last year and employees for the responsible contractor, Halliburton, couldn't get their company to inform camp residents, according to interviews and internal company documents.

Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, disputes the allegations about water problems at Camp Junction City, in Ramadi, even though they were made by its own employees and documented in company e-mails.

"We exposed a base camp population (military and civilian) to a water source that was not treated," said a July 15, 2005, memo written by William Granger, the official for Halliburton's KBR subsidiary who was in charge of water quality in Iraq and Kuwait.

"The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River," Granger wrote in one of several documents. The Associated Press obtained the documents from Senate Democrats who are holding a public inquiry into the allegations Monday.

...
The company's former water treatment expert at Camp Junction City said that he discovered the problem last March, a statement confirmed by his e-mail the day after he tested the water.

While bottled water was available for drinking, the contaminated water was used for virtually everything else, including handwashing, laundry, bathing and making coffee, said water expert Ben Carter of Cedar City, Utah.

Another former Halliburton employee who worked at the base, Ken May of Louisville, said there were numerous instances of diarrhea and stomach cramps — problems he also suffered.

…
Halliburton has contracts to provide a number of services to U.S. forces in Iraq and was responsible for the water quality at the base in Ramadi.

Granger's July 15 memo said the exposure had gone on for "possibly a year" and added, "I am not sure if any attempt to notify the exposed population was ever made."
The first memo on the problem — written by Carter to Halliburton officials on March 24, 2005 — was an "incident report" from tests Carter performed the previous day.
"It is my opinion that the water source is without question contaminated with numerous micro-organisms, including Coliform bacteria," Carter wrote. "There is little doubt that raw sewage is routinely dumped upstream of intake much less than the required 2 mile distance.

"Therefore, it is my conclusion that chlorination of our water tanks while certainly beneficial is not sufficient protection from parasitic exposure."

Carter said he resigned in early April after Halliburton officials did not take any action to inform the camp population.

The water expert said he told company officials at the base that they would have to notify the military. "They told me it was none of my concern and to keep my mouth shut," he said.
…

DRIFTGLASS AGAIN:

I guarantee you that Dubya’s dog has never had to drink shit-laced water, and the Aquafina his daughters suck down between mojitos never smelled like ass.

Every day, in every little way, the GOP telegraphs exactly how much contempt they have for working men and women. Hillbilly armor. Charging the battle-wounded for their meals while in hospital. And now this.

But of course we’re told that somehow this Administration's habit of treating soldiers like souvenir baby alligators that they’ve gotten bored with isn’t what lowers troop morale. No, the sin, we are told, is in having the temerity to talk about the fact that this Administration doesn’t give a shit about working-class people who volunteer to serve their country.

Because in addition to everything else, Republicans think soldiers are playthings who can be used to fight and die at the whim of the President, but aren't nearly clever enough to figure out when they're being screwed and treated like disposable field hands.

Jesus Christ.

With friends like Dick Cheney’s Halliburton, who needs enemies?

Apparently, one of their "friends" aspires to become the first African-American Senator from Tennessee. He supports this crap, and wrote Bush a letter, admonishing him to "stay the course" cause "we're making progress in Iraq".

I wish that last comment was for snark effect; unfortunately, it's the truth.