Military fires back on armor - USAToday

[TacticalPeek]

Posted 12/10/2004 12:19 AM

Military fires back on armor

By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration moved swiftly to quell criticism from troops Thursday by outlining plans to protect all military vehicles used in Iraq. But two companies under contract to the Pentagon said their offers to boost production went unheeded.

President Bush said he understood the troops' concerns and has told military families that "we're doing everything we possibly can to protect your loved ones." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said Wednesday, "You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have" when confronted by troops about the lack of armor, vowed more would be done.

And in a hastily scheduled press conference in Kuwait, Army Lt. Gen. Steven Whitcomb said the military will "work feverishly" to ensure all vehicles contain at least minimal armor plating.

"We have a plan to do this, we're sticking to this, and it is on a good track," he said.

more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-12-10-military-armor_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA




Liars.

[KDLarsen]

1. Now where is the lnik someone posted earlier on..

.. it basically said that the company, that supplies the armor for the Hummm-Veeee's, could up the production of armor plating by 22%, if only the army would order it.

[merwin]

2. Here... it was a response to an earlier post from me

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aMGdbQCSwiRg&refer=home

[saigon68]

16. THIS IS THE RESULT OF NO ARMOR---(graphic)

A common type of injury associated with roadside improvised explosive device run over by a Humvee

LINK TO A WHOLE LOT MORE

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/351/24/2476



Caring for the Wounded in Iraq — A Photo Essay

George E. Peoples, M.D., James R. Jezior, M.D., and Craig D. Shriver, M.D.

[KDLarsen]

18. Ouch, ouch & double-ouch!

[saigon68]

20. MORE INJURIES FROM NO ARMOR---(graphic)

[Just Me]

35. Hey,...this is the cost of the neoCONfascist "free market".

Our leadership frees their profiteering and dominance by spending their political "capital",...which naturally includes our citizens and soldiers,...with their lives, their limbs, and their pockets.

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps,...you sniveling "girly men". Suck it up and put it out,...for your corporate america.

[KDLarsen]

19. Sorry, dupe

FF cut out, so I thought it hadn't posted.

[aikido15]

22. Did you read about the reporter responsible....

for the questions put to Rummy by the soldiers? Funny..I posted earlier http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1370905,00....

[Erika]

3. Yeah. It's Bushco saying they have hard work to do...still

As Rummy crawled into the back seat of an armored car.

But Bush has hard work to do. As he repeated there is a lot of hard work he must do. It's hard work to be President,,,he must do hard work.

And our troops die.

[Seldona]

4. I wonder how many Hummers could have been armored

for the cost of his newly refurbished 'floating Whitehouse', the presidential yacht.

It's hard work, right George?

Bastard.

[Old and In the Way]

6. I think it'd be no more than $2500.00 per to retro the vehicles.

So that's about 100 Hummers that this yacht would protect.

[magellan]

9. And isn't it around $400 per flak jacket?

That's what I heard military families are having to shell out to buy and ship flak jackets to loved ones in Iraq. I think it's National Guard members who are worst-equipped.

Oh, but preserving the presidential yacht USS whatsit -- that's far more important than providing our soldiers with the BASICS in a war zone.

[saigon68]

21. Here's the value of a FLAK JACKET (graphic)

Typical pattern of injury among soldiers wearing Kevlar vests to protect the chest and abdomen.

[RedCon1]

7. When Thomas Jefferson was President,

he refused to let Dolly Madison buy wallpaper for the White house or even new furniture because the country couldn't afford it. She was embarrassed to invite dignitaries over for partys and such because it was in such poor shape at the time. Thomas Jefferson would kick *'s ass on the White house front lawn over borrowing money to buy a yacht let alone to refurbish it.

[Old and In the Way]

5. How many Republican millionaires has this war created?

How many billions have gone unaccounted for in the budget and by the CPA? The pigs have been feeding so hard and deep, no one had time to think about things like armor, toothpaste, decent meals, family support, etc.

[0007]

32. Well you can start by checking out the Carlyle Boys and see

how well they're doing and all it stock holders. Then Haliburton and the thief's are raking it in head over heels.

[LynnTheDem]

8. Yet the lack of up-armor humvees was in the news since TWO YEARS AGO.

bush is a wee bit SLOW, isn't he. Won't do squat until he's SHAMED into it. The story of his pathetic little life.

Post with links to 2003 and 2004 news articles on lack of up-armored humvees (and bullets and rifles and etc)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1420323&mesg_id=1421260

Funny the way bush & the rightwingnuts & pundits are acting like this is ALL NEW NEWS to them. MFers.

[Old and In the Way]

10. War profiteering is hard work.

When there's so much money to be stuffed into Republican pockets, an oversight like protection, food, benefits, etc. for the troops is easy to understand.

[LynnTheDem]

12. Very true...and after all, our troops are FUNGIBLE.

So not like saving their lives is important or anything. As long as Americans buy yellow magnets for their SUVs and wear flag pins to show their support.

[DulceDecorum]

14. Yellow magnets Made in China

Flags pins also Made in China
by Sum Tin Wong.

[saigon68]

24. gotta love the yellow ribbons.

[Old and In the Way]

27. I think yellow is the official color of the Republican Party.....

I just noticed your sigline comment....sums up that whole mess in a sentence. Easily interchangeable with Iraq, too.

[saigon68]

28. It's (the sig line) 35 years old we were saying this in 1968

Right after TET. Feb 1068. It was a bad war like this one.

[madrchsod]

11. durbin asked the rock island arsenal

in rock island ,il. why they were not producing armor -they said they fell behind last year for four months because the production was-OUT SOURCED- so you have one of the largest and oldest arsenals in the united states losing four months production because someone pulled the work and -OUT SOURCED IT....what the fuck is going on!

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. Hey, does anyone know a soldier out there...

... who could ask rummy to tell shrub to balance the goddamn budget?

[WCGreen]

15. Right, It's all Clinton's fault....

It's tommy Franks and his yes man politics that allowed all of this too happen and now he is touted as some kind of hero...

Make me sick....

[booksenkatz]

17. Amazing to watch the chickenhawk argue with the soldiers in the trenches

On the other hand, didn't the soldiers in the trenches vote for another 4 years of Bush? I find that so breathtaking to consider, if it's true. (We'll never know the actual vote count from any sector of the population for 2004.) I guess I only really feel sorry for the soldiers who voted for Kerry... is that hard-hearted of me?
:shrug:

[saigon68]

23. The Rambos who voted for the Chimp ignore this shit (graphic)

Until they are on the table.





Damage-control laparotomy with temporary abdominal closure — serially closed at WRAMC to prevent long-term ventral hernia and need for skin grafting


http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/351/24/2476

[Brundle_Fly]

25. CNN is reporting

the company cannot do anymore for armour than they are already doing,...

BOZOS

[saigon68]

26. Kick for the day crew

[SKKY]

29. Oh-so-many head are going to roll over this...

...Rumsfeld got made a fool of, and by asking this question, this guy made his Chain of Command look foolish. Things like that don't happen in the Military without consequences.

[shawn703]

30. Amazing thing about this story

Is that when Kerry brought up this issue during the campaign, nobody cared.

[Bouncy Ball]

31. Yep I remember that distinctly

he brought it up many times and it seemed like no one batted an eye, much less bush et al.

Heck, it's like they didn't even CARE.

Ahem.

[Esslinger]

33. Well, that sure solves everything. Riiight.

[Just Me]

34. WHERE'S ALL THAT MONEY ~~~~HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS?

Gee,...let's reflect upon how much was spent on all other previous wars and compare.

Someone ought to look at the internal HEMORRHAGING of so many hundreds of billions of dollars!!!!

HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS!!!!

That's a LOT of treasure,...a nation's worth.