Iraq war: The leaders we have, not the ones we might want

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Steven W. Simpson
Special to The Times


Will someone explain to me what in the world is going on in Iraq? Our troops are now digging around in trash heaps looking for chunks of metal they can use to improvise armor to protect their vehicles against small-arms attacks.

We are not talking about troops whining because they want another dozen $10-million-a-pop missiles or better satellite-guidance systems. These are grunts in the field getting shot at who are picking around in junkyards for chunks of metal they can weld on whatever tin-can war equipment the Army is passing out these days.

When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was asked why U.S. forces were being sent into action with insufficient protection, Rumsfeld told the soldiers, in effect, to stop whining about all those shrapnel holes in their inadequate military vehicles.

Rumsfeld, in what has to shake out as one of the most cold-blooded, disaffected statements by anyone about the war, told the people risking their lives, "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002118281_simpsonmug14.html