Torn between money and safety, some US workers flee Iraq

He thought his friend, Stephen Heering, who was driving the fuel truck ahead of him, was dead when a grenade hit his trailer. But Mr. Heering jumped from his cab and, in a cloud of smoke, ran toward a local mosque where he was quickly surrounded by Iraqis who beat him with rocks and sticks and stuck a gun to his head. He escaped, using his backpack as a weapon, and was picked up a quarter mile down the road by another truck in the convoy.

"I heard my son's voice saying, 'Daddy, come home' and that gave me the power to get up," he told reporters this week at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport, where he was met by his wife and son.

Both Heering and Clark say that at first, they felt the three military vehicles accompanying each 30-truck convoy were enough. But not in the past month. "They should have stepped it up and given us more protection," says Clark. "We'd had a lot of rocks thrown at us in little towns and taken some small-arms fire, but after this ambush, I knew it wasn't working."

Fountain also became disillusioned with Halliburton's management, saying the company jeopardizes safety to get the job done. "Bottom line is, it's a money game with them."

Other criticism comes from outside. Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution says the military has a longstanding doctrine that it doesn't turn over mission-critical roles to contractors or put them in positions that require them to be armed.

"Basically we've ignored our own doctrine in Iraq," says this national security expert. Unless it is abided by or rewritten, contractors will continue to be in danger.

It's difficult for many civilian workers to understand Iraqis' hatred of them. Some lament the fact that they are helping to better their lives only to be attacked in return. Clark believes many Iraqis don't even understand what's going on. "One day they are waving at us and the next day they're throwing rocks."

Fountain, on the other hand, says he can understand their frustration - though not their violence. "They want their country back. They are happy and real thankful that we took care of Saddam Hussein for them. But they've had their way of life turned upside down by some other country," says this ex-soldier, who flew home with two flag-draped coffins.

Even with unsettling stories from those returning early, people continue to flock to Houston for training in hopes of going to Iraq. A week-long training course includes everything from physical exams to psychological preparation - with an emphasis on the dangers they'll face.

"Not one of our employees leaves the United States for Iraq without thorough ... briefings on the dangers," says Wendy Hall, Halliburton spokeswoman. "We spend most of our time giving recruits all the reasons why they should not accept this job."

So far, that's done little to sway resolve - though news reports may. This week, only 400 of an expected 600 recruits showed up for training, says one recruit leaving for the day. "People are watching the news," he explains. He's been through training and won't back out now: The notion of earning three times what he can here is too tempting, "especially during this bad economy."

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