| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
19 Dec 2004 12:10:50 PM |
| Object: |
The Bush Crime Family has never supported our troops |
http://www.fosters.com/December_2004/12.19.04/comment/ed_12_19_04a.asp
Sunday, December 19, 2004
We have no right to ill-equip our troops in Iraq
We have broken faith with men and women who risk their lives on our
behalf
It’s been many generations since Americans who were called to war were
expected to bring arms with them.
In a few words, Fallujah and Mosul are not Lexington and Concord.
It is unconscionable that the richest nation in the world sends it
troops into battle ill-equipped and ill-protected.
War is terrible enough.
How dare we ask our young men and women to risk their lives and safety
in a war waged for whatever reason as the current conflict in Iraq.
What does it say about us as a people when we allow our sons and
daughters to be in harm’s way in such an uncaring manner?
What does it say about the way in which we prepared for this war and
the way it is being conducted when we learn of soldiers and Marines
having to forage dumps for metal so as to cover vehicles with better
armor?
What does it say when we read reports of parents and others being
asked to send body armor to loved ones whose lives are unnecessarily
at risk?
Our young men and women on station in Iraq are making a sacrifice on
behalf of their country 24-7.
Why are we making it more difficult for them by seeming to be
ungrateful, even seeming to not care?
"You go to war with what you have," Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld said recently.
"They’re not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time."
The remark was made when a soldier asked Rumsfeld why there was a
shortage of body armor in Iraq.
The question came at a town meeting-like forum with troops stationed
in Kuwait.
An unsolicited tip to the Department of Defense:
Don’t use the SecDef’s remark on recruiting posters.
It doesn’t work.
Rumsfeld’s response to the soldier can easily be interpreted as, "Stop
your whining. Make do with what you’ve got and get out there and do as
you’re told."
How long did it take to cut orders for the solider who asked the
question to be reassigned to Fallujah without either body armor or a
helmet?
The biggest puzzle connected with the remark might be what happened to
the moron who suggested to Rumsfeld that he put himself in verbal
harm’s way.
The secretary of Defense is not answerable to the American people.
He has a constituency of one, the president of the United States.
While his appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate, he
serves at the pleasure of the president.
It is the president’s apparent pleasure that the secretary continue to
serve.
While any expectation of humility on Mr. Rumsfeld’s part is probably
unreasonable at this point in his life, President Bush might want to
consider advising the secretary of Defense to be less visible and more
circumspect in his public remarks.
It will soon be two years since U.S. troops and those from the
shrinking "coalition of the willing" were deployed in Iraq.
It was last March that members of the Senate Armed Services Committee
raised the issues of shortages of body armor and fortified Humvees in
Iraq.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Senate committee, said
last week, "I remain concerned that, more than eight months later, the
Department of Defense has still been unable to ensure that our troops
have the equipment they need to perform their mission as safely as
possible."
Collins said she is troubled the Army’s request for the production of
an additional 100 Humvees a month was made only after a brave soldier
dared to challenge the secretary of Defense.
Collins is right to speak out on the scandalous issue of poorly
equipped troops being ordered to put their lives at risk every day
they are in the field.
We hope she continues to do so when she learns of wrongs being done.
There are times when we see the junior senator from Maine as a third
senator representing the Seacoast area of our two states.
The cost of the war in Iraq is continuing to grow, both in terms of
lives and material wealth.
Almost 1,300 American lives have been lost and the number will be far
greater before it is over.
There is no end of the American military mission in Iraq in sight,
only a larger troop commitment at an undefined cost.
Huge deficits continue to be run up each year the war continues.
The size of the national debt continues to balloon.
Much of the debt is held by foreign investors who are increasingly
nervous about our country’s ability to pay either principal or
interest.
We are, once again, on the horns of a guns-and-butter dilemma.
The war in Iraq is exacting a high toll.
How much longer can we sustain it?
______________________________________________________
Our kids' lives are being used as pawns by this criminal
administration.
Harry
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