Ford troubled by Rumsfeld remarks

[JI7]

<WASHINGTON -- Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., on Thursday labeled as "outrageous and unacceptable" Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's response to a Tennessee National Guardsman who expressed concern about inadequately armored vehicles in Iraq.

On the second day of fallout from the "town hall" exchange Rumsfeld had with Spec. Thomas Wilson in Kuwait, Ford sent a letter telling the Defense chief that his staff had met with members of Wilson's unit in September, before they were deployed, and that they had expressed the same concerns about armor then.

My staff made an inquiry to the Defense Department and raised these force protection issues," Ford wrote. "To learn now that soldiers from this unit and others are scrounging through 'landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor (their) vehicles' shatters any confidence I have in the leadership of the Department of Defense to give our troops the resources they need to fight in Iraq."

Ford was quoting Wilson's question to Rumsfeld, who responded, "You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have."

The issue of the adequacy of protection and equipment for Tennessee National Guard troops extends to the first days of the war in 2003 when the commander of a Brownsville-based transportation company wrote home asking for the public to send C.B. radios. Readers of The Commercial Appeal responded. >

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/america_at_war/article/0,1426,MCA_945_3389018,00.html

[mattclearing]

1. Like we don't spend enough money on this bullshit.

Maybe if they could stop funneling it to Halliburton and actually invest it in the war effort, they wouldn't see this kind of nonsense.

The lack of investment in the troops belies the level of contempt these neocons hold for the people that make up our military.

They would rather loot the treasury and lose, instigating a larger war, than get it right the first time and win.

[still_one]

2. frankly, screw the soldiers

they had the opportunity to vote against * in the second term and they didn't

the first four years I had sympathy for them, no more

the people in this country knew what they voted for, not only * but congress as well

they asked for it, they deserve it

nobody put a gun to their head and told them to volunteer

[Old and In the Way]

6. And you know they voted for Bush......how?

Most of these "volunteers" signed on before Bush came into office....or shortly after 9/11 because they believed we would actually fight terrorists, not secure the oilfields for Big Oil. I suspect an independent polling of the troops on their vote would be quite contradictory of the reports published by the Pentagon and/or Republican coporate media.

[Free2BMe]

3. They would have hung a democrat by their personals had they said

what Rumsfeld said...the president would have been characteristically outraged...that anyone claiming to be an American would belittle our troops that way...I can here his "value" hyperbole ringing in my ears..Yuck...

[librechik]

4. "to learn now"?????

good grief, Rummy got asked this same question in a town hall situation by a soldier 9 months ago! And there has been news and complaints about this incompetence for YEARS!! why didn't Ford (and everybody else) do something about it before the last 1000 soldiers got killed?????

[still_one]

5. it was only when Dean stood up that the sheep followed

if you expect this current crop of democrats in congress to save us, I have some swamp land in arizonia to sell you

[indigobusiness]

7. You go to an unavoidable war - any way you must.

You go on war adventures - only as fools. Fools who seem unable to justify any of their actions, choices, plans or decisions.

[Lefty48197]

8. I thought Ford Jr. was one of those DLC "Bush Lite" Democrats?

What the heck is he doing criticizing a Republican?
<sarcasm now off>

[AntiCoup2K4]

9. Now that Bill KKKristol and PNAC have targeted Rummy....

..it's acceptable for their asskissers as DLC Inc. to join in.