"You Go To War With The Army You Have!"
Rumsfeld gets defensive:
Disgruntled U.S. soldiers complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday about the lack of armor for their vehicles and long deployments, drawing a blunt retort from the Pentagon chief.
"You go to war with the Army you have," he said in a rare public airing of rank-and-file concerns among the troops.
In his prepared remarks earlier, Rumsfeld had urged the troops -- mostly National Guard and Reserve soldiers -- to discount critics of the war in Iraq and to help "win the test of wills" with the insurgents.
Some of soldiers, however, had criticisms of their own -- not of the war itself but of how it is being fought...
SF Chronicle Article
-Jean
posted by flika @ 11:05 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Alright, the troops not having enough armor and ther equipment is sad, but can I ask...have any of you heard from an actual person in the military that this is the case? I personally have 5 of the closest people to me over fighting in the war, (well 2 are home, suiting up to leave) and NONE of them are complaining. Not to mention, even if the circumstances are treacherous, not one of them feels like they are fighting for an unjust cause. I don't disagree that the President was shady in how he conducted his business when we originally entered the war, however, I DO NOT feel like we don't belong there, nor do I feel that our men and women are fighting in vain!
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I'm just enough of a political geek to go to the 'net and look up the particulars on Iraq. Go to http://worldfacts.us/Iraq.htm for more info.
The site says "slightly more than twice the size of Idaho", which is totally useless for me since Idaho has such an unusual shape (but I digress).
The population is 25+ million folks, with 7+m men between 16 and 60 something. The median age is just under 20 years old.
We sent about 150 thousand guys to control 25 million people, and some of that 150k are probably in Kuwait and/or Afghanistan. The chief complaints so far (among many)are that the borders are relatively open (it'd be hard to shut them down since they are so mountainous) and we're having a hard time controlling certain areas of the country.
Does it ever get through to our leaders that there really are NOT enough US troops there? 150k soldiers to control 25+ million?
I know that POTUS and SecDef both say if the commanders asked for more troops they would get them. But really, after Rumsfeld took over the Pentagon he set about to slim down the military in terms of troops needed for any particular operation. Knowing that, are the commanders really going to do that? And if they do, do we really believe that Rumsfeld will abandon his previous views and suddenly approve these requests for building a substantial presence in Iraq?
The retired generals on all the talk shows were fairly unanimous in their belief that we needed more folks going in. And after the recent decision to raise troop levels to 150k in time for the elections, and with the continuing problems in quelling the "insurgents", does anyone really think we could or can do this on the cheap?
Regards, N2
Rumsfeld's answer to the Tennessee guardsman was total bullshit. The fact is the U. S. has been in Iraq now for nearly three years. And you want me to believe that the Secretary and his Commander in Chief just now learned that our troops are ill equipped? It was a campaign issue for Christ's sake. Kerry included it in his stump speech. To know that Bush and Rummy would send our sons and daughters into war with less than adequate protection is unconscionable. Bush has two daughters the same age as many of the soldiers now in Iraq. Would he send them into battle without armor? Hardly!
Okay, wow... There's some responses.
Conservatives! Wow, cool. Unfortunately, where I tend to lurk, there are not many. Good to see you guys.
About the Rumsfeld show...
I totally agree that it is a crime that the soldiers feel that the government is not doing all that they can to protect them in the war. And I do believe that a large number of them feel that way... My proof, none. Just my gut. But I haven't seen numbers on either side of this issue.
However, it turns out that the soldier who asked the question about armor that is getting all of this attention was there guarding a reporter who prompted him to ask this question.
Is it still a valid question? Of course.
Were the audience's entusiastic cheers when the question was asked legitimate? Sounded like it to me.
But I am afraid that the conservative elements in the media will use this as an excuse to invalidate the question itself.
And that is sad. If there is no issue, then prove it. If there is, then something needs to be done.
I am tired of everyone avoiding the debate of real issues because they do not like who asked the question, etc.
Anyway, I'd like to invite the conservatives to come tear me a new one at http://democracyindistress.com
Debate. It's good for you, it's good for me, it's good for America!
I do agree. The government in the U.S is crumbling and has been since the horrid day that the Twin Towers fell down. Bush has no clue what he's doing. What suprises me is that he actually got relected. The only good that could come out of this would be more political music like "Mosh" by Eminem
For all of you that feel so stinkin sorry for the troops "without armor":
I feel sorry for the soldiers who spent the holidays alone. I feel sorry for the soldiers who don't get mail. I feel sorry that the soldiers that didn't cry like whiny bitches to Donald Rumsfeld have to defend the fact that our government DOES give a damn.
My husband has been in Iraq for seven months, and he said this complaint is a load of shit. Yes, there are scrap metal bins. Yes, military vehicles do get hit by IEDs. Yes, soldiers are allowed to go to the scrap metal bins and weld whatever pieces they need onto their vehicle. This does not mean that our government is complacent. It just means they have trained our soldiers to survive in the worst conditions.
As part of my job, I see a lot of the uniforms that were on soldiers at the time of their death. These soldiers are equipped with thousands of dollars of equipment; equipment that is REQUIRED even if they leave their barracks room. I got a uniform covered in blood...this soldier was wearing ALL of his equipment, and the explosives went underneath his Flak Vest and killed him. Another soldier from our post was hit in the head, right under his Kevlar. Split his head in half. So who's fault is it now?
My point is, even if our soldiers weren't 110% equipped (which they are), they are in Iraq for heaven's sake! They are fighting a war!! There are psycho insurgents running around with machine guns!! There are going to be fatalities, regardless of the armor.
The least you can do is support them and maybe send some mail. They are doing the hard work and 99% of them aren't complaining. They joined the Army for a reason.
www.erinrages.blogspot.com
Hi flika your blog is really great! Wow :-) As I was out blog surfing and surfing the web for detailed info on golf equipment seattle I stumbled across your blog. Obviously my search landed me here and it is a little off subject compared to , but I am certainly glad I did come across your blog. Did I already tell you I like it! If you would not mind, I would like to add your link to my "favorites" page to come back and read again sometime. Should you ever need it, there's lots of information on this site about golf equipment seattle. Again, great blog and keep up the great work!
Hey this blog is not about golf equipment seattle. Silly internet bringing me here :-) Funny I have been doing hours of research on golf equipment seattle and it brought me to your blog on . The web plays funny games sometimes. Anyways, I was reading your blog flika and I think it is really cool. Keep up the great work.
If you do not mind I will snag your blog and put it in my favorites. I read a ton of stuff on here that interested me. Keep blogging away :-)
Sad to say I just got back from a bowling tournament and decided to log in and do some websurfing. flika I love your blog. I had some very good laughs. I am doing a paper on golf equipment forums and have been downloading information for the last hour. I don’t know how I came across but I am glad I did. It has set me back a little because I have spent the last hour reading your archives. If you don’t mind I would like to add you to my favorites so I can back again and read some more. Well I need to get back to golf equipment forums. I am almost finished with it. Great job.
p.s some very good points on your blog
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