Congress can't ignore fatal Iraq accidents

Americans seem fairly united in their belief that Wall Street executives shouldn't be allowed to haul off bonuses and other lucrative benefits as they flee the financial wreckage that U.S. tax dollars are now cleaning up. The Pentagon should hold officials at KBR, the dominant contractor in Iraq, to a similar standard in the months ahead.

KBR, a subsidary of Halliburton until last year, continues to draw scrutiny for the quality of its work in Iraq, where it has won the lion's share of contracts - more than $24 billion - since the start of the war five years ago.

Of particular interest is KBR's electrical work in Iraq. At least 18 people, including 16 U.S. military personnel, have died of electrocution at American bases in the past five years.

"At least" appear to be the operative words, because Pentagon officials keep revising the figure upward. It wasn't until early this year, in fact, that Congress or the public learned of any of the deaths or concerns about KBR's work.

In January, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a Green Beret from Pennsylvania, was electrocuted while taking a shower in his barracks in Baghad, according to The New York Times. His family filed a wrongful death claim against KBR; the company denies it is at fault.

Several Pentagon officials told The Times that the agency in charge of supervising contracts in Iraq has determined that KBR has fallen into "serious contractual noncompliance." The ruling would put hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses and fees, as well as regular payments, at risk.

Congress should continue monitoring the situation and, in light of the Pentagon's delays in releasing information, push for a thorough review of the extent of the electrical problems on U.S. bases in Iraq. Given the number of deaths involved, it's clear that payments to KBR- especially bonuses - should be held up.