Pentagon Dismisses KBR Contaminated Water: Troops Should ‘Just Drink Bottled Water’

On Sunday, the AP reported that contractor KBR has been providing “unmonitored and potentially unsafe” water to U.S. troops in Iraq. According to a Pentagon Inspector General’s report, dozens of soldiers fell sick, suffering “skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses” after using the “discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry.”

In a press briefing on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell dismissed KBR’s gross negligence. He responded by joking about how everyone knows the water in Iraq is unsafe, and advised everyone to avoid drinking it:

You know, we’ve all been to Iraq several times. Everywhere you go they make it perfectly clear that you don’t want to drink the water, so I’m a little surprised myself that this is an issue. As I understand it, the bottled water, which is what you’re supposed to be drinking in Iraq, had no issues whatsoever in the testing that was done. Evidently, there was some issue with some of the other water that was, I guess, primarily meant for washing. [...]

But I think our encouragement is always — for journalists and warfighters alike is read the signs and just drink the bottled water.

Watch it:

Morrell’s advice is useless. Troops didn’t drink the contaminated water. They used it for bathing and laundry. Does Morrell also propose that troops use bottled water for showering?

KBR has recently faced scrutiny for dodging paying more than $500 million “in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies” based in the Cayman Islands. Between 2004 and 2006, KBR — previously a subsidiary of Halliburton — received more than $16 billion in government contracts.

(HT: Heather)

Transcript:

Q: And with regards to the Pentagon IG report on the dirty water that was supplied to troops in Iraq by KBR, what is the secretary’s comment? What is your comment?

MR. MORRELL: I haven’t spoken to the secretary about it. You know, we’ve all been to Iraq several times. Everywhere you go they make it perfectly clear that you don’t want to drink the water, so I’m a little surprised myself that this is an issue. As I understand it, the bottled water, which is what you’re supposed to be drinking in Iraq, had no issues whatsoever in the testing that was done. Evidently, there was some issue with some of the other water that was, I guess, primarily meant for washing.

And — but still, based upon this IG report, which I think is over 14 months old or something by now, the period in question, that there’s no evidence that any of the illnesses were related to the water. So as far as we can tell, there was no widespread health risk or illness associated with the few problems that were discovered with the water system. But I think our encouragement is always — for journalists and warfighters alike is read the signs and just drink the bottled water.