Posted on 12/08/2004 10:33:55 PM PST by Zeroisanumber
OK, can I have a tank?
With or without armor?
WTF did people expect? Were we supposed to let the terrorists go on killing us until we were able to make everyone invincible?
I am so sick of this story.
The real story is that this guy KNEW he could ask Rumsfeld without being driven out of the service.
And he KNEW Rumsfeld would answer him.
Thumbs up to this guy, took a lot of balls to stand up and ask those questions. The higher ups sitting in there nice (safe) offices need to hear more than the sugar coated reports. It's the lower-middle class kid who didn't have the money or family connections to go to an ivy league school who joins the rank and file and has to bloody his hands fighting for the power structure. I know, I was once there.
Jeez, where have we heard that crap before....
I didn't hear it anywhere, I saw it first hand. That's the way it's always been and always will be. I never met a single guy that came from money, most of us joined cause it was the only real chance we had besides working some crappy job and living at home.
Not everything in life boils down to liberals versus conservatives. And just because somebody questions the actions of our precious defence secretary or
president, that doesn't make that person automatically wrong, bad, or un-American.
During these times, we're lucky to have the current administration in office. But they aren't perfect, and they need to hear from the folks. Besides, Rumsfeld is a civilian.
Did you volunteer or were you drafted? No draft these days, so that argument goes out the window. The government has forced no one to enlist in the military since 1973. And you were saying...?
Exactly where would there be?
It's WAR. It's reality. No room for Crybabies and Hate America Congress Pussies.
2. For years many of us "in the rear with the gear" combat support/combat service support types knew that the trucks we were given (usually variants of Dodge or GM civilian vehicles) lacked both the armor and the mobility to face a serious rear area threat, even the Soviet Special Operations Forces/SPETSNAZ threat we knew in Germany. But the trucks were cheap, so no one (and I mean Carter, Reagan, Bush '41, Clinton and Bush '42 Administrations alike) saw a need to up-armor the trucks.
3. If the specialist in question has spent any time at all on active duty, he knows that we have a very degraded capability to "surge" produce armor kits/armored support vehicles on demand. In Vietnam we used perforated steel plate and sand bags to up-armor our 2 1/2 ton "gun trucks" for convoy security.
4. Holding Rumsfeld responsible for a lack of common sense in the procurement side of the Army/Marines is like holding (WWII) Secretary of War Stimson responsible for not fielding a Tiger Tank equivalent during WWII. It may satisfy some folks agendas, but it's hardly fair.
I don't think anyone is holding Rumsfeld responsible, so much as they're bringing something to his attention. If they catch his ear, he's certainly the man who can get the ball rolling.
BTW, I was a chronic griper in 68 and 69.
Had to play hell to get rotor blades for choppers, or any parts at all. Forget even new boots, unless you could afford gook black market prices.
Anyhoo, I my Dad told me (he was in WWII) that griping was a noble tradition in the US military.
As for the troop and Rumsfeld, my guess is Rummy gets it.
Other than the fact that the media has led with the story all day, and I mean all news media, these were totally fair questions, and I don't have a problem with them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.