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Tuesday, April 13, 2004
issing Halliburton workers show danger of work in Iraq
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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.
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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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MATHEMATICS
CONTEST
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FRESHMEN & SOPHOMORE
MATHEMATICS CONTEST
Milner Mali 317
TODAY
7:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M.
Six prizes from $50.00 to $150.00 will be awarded!
Contest problems will cover topics through Math 152 (Engineering
Calculus H) for freshmen contestants and through Math 308 (Differential
Equations) for sophomore contestants.
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.)
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Disarming Iraq
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Dr. Hans Blix
Chairman,
Commission on
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Weapons of Mass
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Destruction
Muslim Students’ Association - Texas A&M
presents,..
The World is but a Moment
A Photographic Odyssey Through the Muslim World
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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