The
Arizona Republic
Friday, June 18, 2004Worker comp
claims pour in from Americans with Iraq
jobs Washington -- Almost half of all
injury and death claims filed by U.S. government
contractors so far this year were for incidents
that occurred in Iraq.  David
Irving comments: MY CORRESPONDENT writes: "Workers'
compensation is a payment made under
United States law to American workers who
are injured while at work.
"Evidently attacks by the
Iraqi resistance have become a significant
fraction of these claims, and half the
total for U.S. government contractors.
"The following article,
attributed to the Associated Press,
appeared on page A20 of the Friday, June
18, 2004 edition of The Arizona
Republic.". |
The federal government ultimately will spend
millions of dollars for these workers' compensation
payments. Federal law requires all U.S. government
contractors and subcontractors to obtain workers'
compensation insurance for civilian employees who
work overseas. If an injury or death is related to
a "war-risk hazard," the War Hazards Compensation
Act provides for government reimbursement to
insurance carriers.Of the 771 injury claims filed by U.S.
contractors so far this year, 345 occurred in Iraq.
Of the 66 deaths reported as of last week, all but
nine occurred in Iraq, according to the Labor
Department, which handles the reporting of claims
and reimbursements. Since January 2003, there have
been claims for 476 injuries and 80 deaths in
Iraq. Casualties are rising. A convoy of contractors
was ambushed Tuesday in Baghdad. Two people were
killed and three were injured when shots were fired
from a highway overpass. Among the most gruesome
deaths were four civilian
security personnel who were killed March 31
in Fallujah, their bodies mutilated and burned. The remains of two were hung from a bridge. "The
security situation is virtually unprecedented,"
said Bob Hartwig, chief economist with the
Insurance Information Institute, an industry group.
"You've got the potential to be kidnapped, to be
killed, to be tortured, shot at, blown up." Labor Department officials said they had no cost
estimate for reimbursements of Iraq-related claims,
but given the maximum payment of $1,030.78 per week
and the number of injuries and deaths, it could
well climb into the multimillions. The Employees Compensation Fund, which pays war
hazard and workers' comp for federal employees, is
allocated about $2.3 billion annually.
[MISSION
ACCOMPLISHED] "I have an acquaintance from Fallujah. He tells
me, 'The good thing we have that you don't in
Baghdad is that you do not see any American
soldiers on our streets. We do not allow that in
Fallujah.'" --Hussein al-Musawi, quoted on
p. A20, The Arizona Republic, April 3,
2004 |
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