More proof of how much Republicans love the troops and of how well Republican limited government works. John McCain is a leader on the Senate Armed Service Committee - how did this happen under his watch? Hell, how did the entire fiasco of a war happen under McCain's watch? From CREW:
On February 6th, The New York Times reported that Sioux Manufacturing, which makes the Kevlar for helmets, has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that the company had shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including helmets used by American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Defense, aware of both the problem with Sioux's helmets and the company's efforts to cover it up, awarded another contract to Sioux a mere 12 days before the lawsuit was settled. That same day, CREW sent a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees requesting an investigation into a Department of Defense $74 million contract awarded to Sioux Manufacturing.
Because in Bush world, "support the troops" doesn't mean actually giving the troops the support they need. From Reuters:
U.S. troops in Iraq will receive at least 1,000 fewer special armored vehicles than expected this year due to the amount of time needed for shipment, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the Defense Department expected defense contractors to produce 3,900 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles this year. But only 1,500 would make it to the war zone -- down from the Pentagon's previous shipment target of 2,500 to 3,000.
"If we could get 1,500 to theater by the end of this year, that would be a positive development," Morrell said.
The new goal of 1,500 was first reported by Stars & Stripes, the newspaper for troops overseas that is partially funded by the Defense Department.
Smart dad. Because we know what will happen to his son at Walter Reed if he gets injured.
What the hell is going on in our country? These are the kids going over for the surge. I'm just speechless. Read this letter to the editor in today's Sparta Independent (NY):
To the Editor:
I have a son going to Iraq this summer. I was able to afford to buy state-of-the-art body armor for his protection. Unfortunately there are many parents that are not able to afford this body armor.
My son’s outfit has 24 Marines. Two parents, including myself, have purchased this armor. Five others have been sponsored. The families of all the Marines in the unit have banded together to raise the additional money for the other 17 Marines.
The military has body armor available, but it’s heavy and not state-of-the-art. There is a company called Pinnacle Armor, out of California, that sells armor called Dragon Skin. This is what we have chosen for our sons. We need to raise $102,000 to outfit these 17 Marines. It’s approximately $6000 per Marine.
Any and all donations are welcome.
For more information please call Jesse Roe at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
Jesse Roe Newton
And by the way, this answers a burning question I've had since last year. A number of folks on the right had been saying "it's a lie, our troops HAVE the body armor they need, and in fact, it's so heavy they don't want to wear it anyway in the hot desert heat." It didn't hit me until I read this letter that this may actually be true, all of our troops DO have body armor - sure, it's the WRONG body armor that they can't use...
How do you explain to the thousands of American troops now being poured into Baghdad that they will have to wait until the summer for the protective armor that could easily mean the difference between life and death?
You tell them that unfortunately this is what you get when you vote Republican. You then tell them to pick up the phone and call Tommy Franks and Colin Powell and ask them why they told you to vote for Bush.
We learn in today's Washington Post that the reason those supposed "Irani explosives" are causing so much damage is, in part, because Bush has, yet again, failed to get our troops the armor they need for their vehicles. And the armor won't be there until at least July, well into the "surge." So the reason our troops are dying is because of Republican malfeasance, again.
Now who's empowering Al Qaeda and demoralizing the troops?
