U.S. shamefully delayed request to ship vests to Iraq
By DANIEL B. HUNT
GainesvilleAugust 14. 2004
As a veteran who has seen combat, I'm disgusted that any military vehicles
in Iraq are not ?up-armored,? meaning they can't stop bullets, let alone
roadside bombs.
Marion County Sheriff Ed Dean got a request for bulletproof vests to line
the Humvees' sides and floor panels from deputy Fred Chisholm, a reservist
in Iraq serving in the 351st Military Police Company. By May 2004, Dean
collected more than 850 vests and asked the military to ship them to Iraq.
It should have been easy, as in New Jersey, where a group collected and sent
bulletproof vests to Iraq with hardly any delay.
Instead, more than 800 vests sat for months (and might still be sitting) in
Marion County, because U.S. officials seemed more interested in downplaying
the problem than solving it.
It's shameful that Washington officials failed to include armored Humvees in
their $87 billion war-spending request. It's downright immoral that
officials threw political resistance at helpful civilians in Florida.
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040814/EDITORIALS02/40813030/-1/editorials
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In May 1972, Bush moved to Alabama to work on a political campaign and, he
has said, to perform his Guard service there for a year. But other Guard
officers have said they have no recollection of ever seeing him there.
The documents released on Friday by the Pentagon included two faded
computerized payroll sheets showing Bush was not paid during the latter part
of 1972 and offer no evidence to place Bush in Alabama during the latter
part of 1972.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/23/bush.military.records.reut/
http://crisispapers.org/essays/awol-scandal.htm
http://glcq.com/
www.awolbush.com
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