Or the top brass at the Pentagon, either, but things don’t look so good for our under-supported troops over there:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The system for delivering badly needed gear to Marines in Iraq has failed to meet many urgent requests for equipment from troops in the field, according to an internal document obtained by The Associated Press.
Of more than 100 requests from deployed Marine units between February 2006 and February 2007, less than 10 percent have been fulfilled, the document says. It blamed the bureaucracy and a “risk-averse” approach by acquisition officials.
Among the items held up were a mine-resistant vehicle and a hand-held laser system.
Less Than Ten Fricking Percent! Did I read that right? That’s outrageous! Has anyone passed this report up the chain of command? Uh, not exactly …
(cont.)
The document was to be presented in March to senior officials in the Pentagon’s defense research and engineering office. The presentation was canceled by Marine Corps leaders because its contents were deemed too contentious, according to a defense official familiar with the document. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The document’s claims run counter to the public description of a process intended to cut through the layers of red tape that frequently slow the military’s procurement process.
This little nugget of despair is brought to you by our CEO President, using the same wondrous management skilz he learned while in the private sector. Don’t ask, don’t tell has a whole new meaning, now, doesn’t it?
And guess who’s paying the price.
Needs of the deployed troops are “competed against funded programs,” the document states.
“Resistance costs time,” it adds. “Unnecessary delays cause U.S. friendly and innocent Iraqi deaths and injuries.”
Not that a few more dead soldiers and innocent Iraqis have ever mattered much to this administration’s bottom line. Cost of doing business, doncha know.
