What, pray tell could cause me to put that expletive partially deleted as my title? This story from the New York Times (via Raw Story)about how well Bush’s Pentagon has supported the troops, that’s what:
By MICHAEL MOSS
Published: January 6, 2006A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.
Think that’s bad? That’s only just for starters. Read this:
The vulnerability of the military’s body armor has been known since the start of the war, and is part of a series of problems that have surrounded the protection of American troops. Still, the Marine Corps did not begin buying additional plates to cover the sides of their troops until this September, when it ordered 28,800 sets, Marine Corps officials acknowledge.
The Army, which has the largest force in Iraq, is still deciding what to purchase, according to Army procurement officials. They said the Army is deciding between various sizes of plates to give its 130,000 soldiers; the officials said they hope to issue contracts this month.
What the hell is this? Almost 3 years into this mess and the Army still hasn’t placed an order for better personal body armor? Body armor that could have saved many more lives? What happened to Support Our Troops? Or is that only a slogan on a ribbon magnet, suitable for display on an SUV, but not really a top priority of Bush’s War on Terror.
This just sickens me. Haven’t we already been through this before?
Thursday, December 9, 2004 Posted: 4:37 AM EST (0937 GMT)
. . . One soldier, identified by The Associated Press as Army Spc. Thomas Wilson of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, a Tennessee National Guard outfit, asked Rumsfeld why more military combat vehicles were not reinforced for battle conditions.
“Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?” Wilson asked.
The question prompted cheers from some of the approximately 2,300 troops assembled in the large hangar to hear Rumsfeld deliver a pep talk at what the Pentagon called a town hall meeting.
Can’t these bastards do anything right?
Sorry but I can’t be rational about this. I just have too much outrage.
Update [2006-1-6 20:32:12 by Steven D]: SusanG agrees with me.
