Following the flap where a soldier asked Rumsfeld about the lack of armor for troops, I see that the current news is that a reporter planted GI’s question for Rumsfeld. By doing so, the Pentagon and the White House want to make people think it was an attack on a member of the administration, and forget that it’s a legitimate question. I hope it doesn’t work, because it’s a damn legitimate question.
It also provides yet another opportunity for the President to lie to the American people; only this time it hurts more because he’s lying to troops and families of troops:
In a separate article, Bush said:
“The concerns expressed are being addressed, and that is, we expect our troops to have the best possible equipment,” Mr. Bush said. “And I have told many families I met with, we’re doing everything we possibly can to protect your loved ones in a mission which is vital and important.”
If he said this in May 2003, I could partially understand; it’s not easy to send equipment to a war zone (for now, let’s leave out the fact that a properly prepared military force with a clear plan for winning the peace should not have been deployed until the armor was there). But after 21 months of American occupation, there is simply no justification at all for not having fully-equipped, fully-armored troops and vehicles. None. If Bush were doing “everything” he possibly could, the question would not have come up in the first place.
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 