Imagine if Clinton lost 14 Marines in an amphibious vehicle in a desert!!

[DeepModem Mom]

How many Right-Wing millions would be pouring into Swiftboat-Vet-type TV ads, narrated in a deep, accusing voice?


Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Amphibious vehicle easy prey in Iraq
Thursday, August 04, 2005
David Wood
Newhouse News Service

Washington - The 14 Marines killed in Iraq Wednesday were riding in a 28-ton, lightly armored amphibious behemoth that experts say was never intended for inland urban operations, where it is one of the more vulnerable combat vehicles on the battlefield.

Until now, the Marine Amphibious Assault Vehicle, normally launched from ships and moved ashore protected by tanks and artillery, was considered safe for operations in Iraq. Protected with an inch of aluminum armor - less than that carried by the Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle or Abrams tank - they hold up to 25 combat-loaded Marines and a crew of three.

AAVs in Iraq have additional armor designed to protect them from the blast of a 155 mm artillery shell at a distance of 25 meters, about 80 feet, said Doug Coffey, a senior official at BAE Systems, the London- based international defense and aerospace company that designed and manufactured the vehicle in the early 1970s.

Even so, Coffey said, the AAV "is a lightweight amphibious personnel carrier not intended to be a fighting vehicle or anything like a tank. It's one of the more vulnerable vehicles on the battlefield."...

***

This is especially true given the situation in Iraq, where insurgents with easy access to explosives and ammunition clearly have studied how to find and exploit vulnerabilities in U.S. armored vehicles....

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1123152954166290.xml&coll=2

[DemNoir]

1. That applies to a wide range of situations

It is always a good mental exercise to ask yourself "What would happen if someone named Clinton was involved in this?"

[DeepModem Mom]

2. You're so right -- I often ask myself that. The Bush cabal...

escapes most anything with impunity.

[nyhuskyfan]

3. I find myself playing the "imagine if Clinton...." game a lot

Imagine if he...

Ignored the August 6 briefing and stayed on vacation
Went on a five-week vacation now
Forced a UN ambassador through during recess
Gave war-profiteering contracts to Al Gore's company
Fabricated intelligence to get us into a conflict
Had no discernable exit strategy from said conflict
Ran up massive deficits
Was investigated by the SEC for bailing on stocks and making a huge profit
Outed a CIA agent for revenge
Promised to get rid of anyone involved in the leak, then went back on his word
Passed massive tax cuts which primarily benefitted his former law firm and his friends in Arkansas (the way the oil industries are rolling in $$$ now)
Was a dumbass

The list could go on for days...

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Indeed! nt

[nyhuskyfan]

14. I forgot this one: What if Clinton said "Bring Em On"

Ohmigod - that would have been the end of it.

[chaumont58]

18. Can anyone imagine Clinton landing on a carrier....

and striding across the flight deck dressed in a flight suit. If he were to have done it, he wouldn't have needed a sock in a strategic place.

I do think it is fun to compare the beltway whores reactions to chimpie misadventures what how I perceive they would have reacted to Clinton in a similar situation.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution is wasted, as far as the beltway whores are concerned.

[malmapus]

4. Those things were already taking a beating at the begining of Operation IF

I remember hearing about that first town where major resistance was, Nasaria? They had a few taken out, course they were taking very heavy fire there too.

But yeah, from talking to former Marines it does seem that AAVs are out of their element in Iraq.

[DeepModem Mom]

10. Not new, then. nt

[malmapus]

19. Its about time our leaders got a clue

Will never happen though with this administration. Even Bradleys are being taken out in Iraq (albeit not at the rate that AAVs are).

[wtmusic]

5. When one democratic president lost 8 Marines in the desert

we never heard the end of it. SOS Cyrus Vance resigned because of it.

Air Force Col. James Kyle, called it, "The most colossal episode of hope, despair, and tragedy I had experienced in nearly three decades of military service."

:eyes:

http://www.1sos.com/desertone.html

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Yep -- thanks for the reminder. nt

[PA Democrat]

6. Recall the outrage over the 18 US soldiers who died in Mogadishu, Somalia

Clinton was blasted for this even though it was Poppy Bush who committed US troops in the first place. There was such an outrage over the fact that the US troops did not have properly armored vehicles. Sound familiar?

[DeepModem Mom]

9. Yes! nt

[cdb]

11. Well, Clinton lied about a blow job. Nothing is worse than that.

Try to keep this in perspective. Blowjob. Lie.Impeached. *sigh*

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Exactly.

:eyes:

[jean]

13. bush is offering US troops as fodder for the 'adaptable' insurgency's

wargame drills. THEY are fine-tuning their IED's and strategies while the Pentagon does NOTHING to adapt. Bush continues to supply US troops with under-armored vehicles INAPPROPRIATE to 'battlefield' conditions.

from the article:

"This is especially true given the situation in Iraq, where insurgents with easy access to explosives and ammunition clearly have studied how to find and exploit vulnerabilities in U.S. armored vehicles...."

Twenty-one marines blown to death in three days!

And why the hell are media outlets publishing specs about these crap vehicles our people are condemned to driving? Nice numbers for the local IED designer to work with.

[madrchsod]

15. aluminum armor?

there must have been pieces of these guys blow all over the area. it`s a shame that the american people will never see the effects of this explosion. those who will bury these men will....................

[Catherine Vincent]

16. I agree. Someone should write a song called "Imagine if Clinton..."

or write a story of all the horrible things that is happening and will continue to happen under President Jerkoff and replace Bush's name to Clinton's name.

[johnnie]

17. Tell you what

If this happened under Clinton's watch I would have been fucking pissed. I was pissed of at a lot of his decisions. That is what separates me from the pukes, they are too stupid to call 'em as they see 'em. They follow blindly and refuse to question decisions made by anyone in their party.

[DeepModem Mom]

20. Good point, johnnie. In their eyes, their side can do no wrong. nt