originally posted on MyLeftWing Crossposted to dKos
Remember Zell Miller’s RNC speech about Kerry…
“This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces?
U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?“
That was a mighty big applause line for Zell. As were all of Bush and Cheney’s references to honor and dignity in 2000.
I think I’m going to be sick. Again.
Here is a Cleveland Plain Dealer Headline from today:
The US Army is short of its workhorse-calibre ammunition, the .50-cal.
Holden, at First Draft – had an entry based on this and I think he nailed it – his excerpts and comments below.
Spitballs, huh Zell? Support Our Troops!!!!! Fucking Yellow Ribbon ain’t doin’ much good…. Hypocritical Bastards…. Holden’s excerpts below the fold.
Washington- U.S. troops in Iraq are firing .50-caliber machine guns at such a high rate, the Army is scrambling to resupply them with ammunition – in some cases dusting off crates of World War II machine gun rounds and shipping them off to combat units.
[snip]
At the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Ky., ammunition left over from Desert Storm, Vietnam, Korea and even World War II had been stored in massive concrete bunkers, including some 12 million rounds of .50-cal.
Staffers began shipping it off to Iraq.
By the time the war stretched into its second year, the Blue Grass stockpile of .50 cal had shrunk to 4 million rounds.
[snip]
Four years ago, Lake City [ammunition plant] was manufacturing about 10 million rounds a year; currently it is producing at an annual rate of 50 million rounds and rising.
Even that fivefold increase hasn’t been enough.
[snip]
At Blue Grass, Darryl Brewer, a combat medic in Vietnam, is chief of logistics for the ammunition depot. Recently, he started pulling out .50 cal. crates marked 1945.
The 1945 ammunition was opened and test rounds fired to check for reliability and accuracy, standard testing done for all aging ammunition. “They find anything wrong, they’ll do a suspension,” Brewer said, adding with some pride, “Very seldom you see that in a fiddy- cal.”
Holden, at First Draft for bringing this to my attention (not to mention my brother who sent me the link this morning – and who’s lines I stole to start this entry (heh).)
Part of me wants to wonder what the hell they’re shooting so much – since according to the Gov it’s the insurgents that are killing all the innocent civilians – and there are only a few hundred, thousand, maybe 5000, maybe 20,000, etc etc spin spin spin insurgents….
but I’ll instead focus on this. Why can’t the Bush administration supply our troops with the basic equipment they need to do the tasks they are assigned?
And how is it we do have enough money for Halliburton’s profits – but not our troops armor, bullets – let alone their families food stamps back home (and make no mistake – many of our troops families are on food stamps – at least until the cuts take effect…)
Crooked, Lying Bastards.
Time for Bushco the turn a fucking corner…
I want to greet them with some flowers and chocolate….
It has been like this in the war since its conceeption. Nothing has been furnished for the troops like it should have been.
Nothing has been right since the year of our Lord 2000! NOw Miller can rot in hell as far as I am concerned. In that picture, he looks like a hitler if ever there was a pix of him like that.
As a vet and one who hates war, I will never forgive this administration for the wrong they have done! I hope their souls rot in hell…..every last one of them.