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| NEWS National Guard says protecting Halliburton in Iraq is too risky
May 23, 2004
KANSAS CITY, May 23 (Summary of Associated Press Article) - A Missouri National Guard unit said protecting private contractors in Iraq is more risky than if soldiers did the work themselves. Sgt. Donald Curttright of the 1221st Transportation Company told the Associated Press that there are not enough soldiers to protect trucking convoys operated by Halliburton subsidiary, KBR. He said, "There might be 30 trucks, and we'll have six or seven of us riding shotgun armed with M-16 (rifles) .... If we're attacked, we're expected to protect the whole thing. I don't know how we're supposed to do it." Missouri Governor Bob Holden, in a letter to President Bush, said the 1221st Transportation Company is a trucking unit for the National Guard, which means it was not trained for security and police duty.
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