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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2004)
5 TATE HE BATTALION Tuesday, April 13, 2004 issing Halliburton workers show danger of work in Iraq 'km By Kristen Hays THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON — The danger faced by Halliburton Co. employ- s in Iraq became more apparent over the weekend as the Htiimber of people missing after attacks on work convoys creased to seven. Six workers disappeared two days ago after an attack near Abu hraib, west of Baghdad, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said Monday. :e refused to say whether they had been kidnapped. On Friday, Jhoma.s Hamill, 43, was snatched by gunmen during an attack on |fuel convoy he was guarding. All are employed by Kellogg, Brown & Root, which is a sub- Idiary of Houston-based Halliburton, the firm that Vice President tt>Bick Cheney ran during the 1990s. Like Halliburton, the politically connected KBR has a long Istory of working for the U.S. government. Previous government Lntracts included building an air base in Vietnam in 1965 and l oducing Navy ships during World War II. I More than 24,000 KBR employees and subcontractors are lurking in the Kuwait-Iraq region, said Wendy Hall, a alliburton spokeswoman. Their duties include extinguishing oil ell fires and cleaning oil sites. I “Our work is difficult and in a dangerous environment, and we |rc angered and deeply saddened by this situation,” Halliburton laid in a statement, adding that it and its subcontractors have lost Lout 30 personnel in the region. I The company declined to identify the six missing workers, among more than 30 foreigners kidnapped recently by insurgents, o discuss details of the attack in order to protect their privacy, all said. iolnij fsaidii ) son on ler admit; Mold: tai Moons Idtotdl :ts. If she fptocs limit! Halliburton offered workers $80,000 tax-free for working in Iraq for a year, or up to $120,000 with overtime. However, they are allowed to return home without questions. Halliburton has been awarded as much as $6 billion in con tracts from the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but the company has been under fire for allegedly overcharging the government. Halliburton denies wrongdoing and says the company is a political target.Hall said KBR workers and contractors are aware from the beginning that the work is dangerous, and that employees depend on mili tary protection. “Not one of our employees leaves the United States for Iraq without thorough and repeated briefings on the dangers in Iraq. In fact, during the training process, we spend most of our time giv ing recruits all the reasons they should not accept this job,” she said. “In Iraq, however, we have a situation that is constantly changing. Both the military and our employees have to change with it.” Hamill’s captors had threatened to kill him unless U.S. troops ended their assault on the city of Fallujah. A deadline imposed by his abductors passed Sunday with no word of his fate. Two men who drove trucks for Halliburton until this weekend, Stacy Clark, 36, and Stephen Heering, 33, said it was becoming too dangerous in Iraq. “You have to see it to believe it,” Clark said Monday after reuniting Monday with his wife in Houston. Heering’s truck was blown out from beneath him last Thursday, forcing him to make a dangerous escape. He decided to return home to his family. The sentiment that drove Clark and Heering home is growing among truck drivers in Iraq, Herring said. “I’m done. I’ll never go back,” he said. Accounting for those kidnapped in Iraq Insurgents in Iraq have seized about 30 civilian hostages from at least 11 countries and have briefly detained a number of foreign journalists during a weeklong uprising. Confirmed kidnapped or unaccounted for as of 6 p.m. EOT Two U.S. troops, seven civilian employees of American contractor STATUS Eight missing, one captured LAST LOCATION Near Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad Seven Chinese civilians Released Fallujah Two Japanese aid workers, one photojournalist Captured Southern Iraq Two Arab aid workers Captured Najaf Eight South Korean missionaries seven released, one escaped Near Baghdad Nine truck drivers from various military supply convoys* Released Western and southern outskirts of Baghdad. * Three from Pakistan, two from Turkey, one from Nepal, one from Philippines, one from India; one nationality unknown SOURCE: Associated Press AP In Macon, Miss., Hamill’s hometown, American flags went up on the main street Monday as a gesture of support. Mayor Dorothy Baker Hines said the town would keep the lights on all night at some buildings as a reminder. “We will keep going until we get our guy out, all our guys and girls out,” she said. 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Contact Douq Hensley, e-mail: dhensley&math.tamu.edu For more information and sample problems, check Dr. Hensley's Home Page: http//www.matn.tamu.edu/-doug.hensley (For purposes of fhis confest, freshmen are first-year undergraduate students, and sophomores are second-year undergraduate students. All majors are welcome.) Parents' Weekend Pre-Sale 10% Off April 7-18 O W/ '1/ T C|/ W/ Blue Cult Paper Denim Joe's Jean |H Da-Nang Frankie B BCBG Laundry Allen B Vince Three Dots Trendy Designer Dresses and Jeans at Rich Girls Boutique In Post Oak Mall, next to Foley's 979.696.1299 www.e-richgirls.com Disarming Iraq |, §a Dr. Hans Blix Chairman, Commission on dSpft. TJF ’ i r if - Weapons of Mass mlw. y tju Destruction Muslim Students’ Association - Texas A&M presents,.. The World is but a Moment A Photographic Odyssey Through the Muslim World / iin tiers; off ickets on sale at the MSC Box Office (979)845-1234 or (888)890-5667 WILEY LECTURE SERIES M emorial Student Center Bringing the World to Texas A&M since 1983 For further program information, call (979)845-1514 or jj| visit http://wiley.tamu.edu An Exhibit & Lecture by Internationally Acclaimed Photographer Peter Sanders Tuesday, April 13 6:30 PM, Stark Gallery To be followed bj a reception Co-sponsors: Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, International Programs Office, Office of the Provost, VP of Student Affairs, Stark Gallery
