Grunt Zappers

It's finally coming out that a few of the casualties -- and countless injuries -- caused during the ongoing War In Iraq® have been due to hundreds of fires at US military installations. Fires caused by crappy electrical work performed by private contractors from the United States is apparently to blame. According to a story in today's NYTimes, soldiers in one housing unit in Baghdad were complaining of getting electric shocks on an almost daily basis. This problem, which has been running silently rampant since the troops moved into Iraq, was finally brought to light when the family of Green Beret Ryan Maseth demanded an explanation of how he was electrocuted while taking a shower. When it turned out that faulty grounding was the culprit, that flipped the switch on all the other problems the military had been hiding. Talk about friendly (electrical) fire.