Posted on 12/17/2004 8:14:05 PM PST by Doctor Raoul
From Wire Reports
Senior Army officials told a wire service reporter Wednesday that within 24 hours of a soldier's complaint to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about shortages of vehicle armor in Iraq, protective armor had been installed on every vehicle in the soldier's unit.
According to a Hearst Newspaper report Thursday, Army Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes and Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, senior members of the Army's combat systems development and acquisition team at the Pentagon, said routine pre-deployment preparations before proceeding to Iraq included adding protective armor plates to the last 20 vehicles of the Tennessee-based 278th Regimental Combat Team's 830 vehicles.
``When the question was asked, 20 vehicles remained to be up-armored at that point,'' Hearst reporter Stewart M. Powell quoted Speakes as saying at a Pentagon briefing. '``We completed those 20 vehicles in the next day. ... In other words, we completed all the armoring within 24 hours of the time the question was asked.''
On Dec. 8, Spc. Thomas ``Jerry'' Wilson, 31, of Nashville, asked Rumsfeld why, after almost two years of war, soldiers were searching dumps for metal to weld on vehicles destined for hostile territory.
``Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles?'' Wilson said.
The question appeared to surprise Rumsfeld and prompted cheers among the soldiers listening to him in a hangar. After asking Wilson to repeat the question, Rumsfeld replied: '``You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have.'``
During Wednesday's briefing, Speakes said the soldier may not have known that ``an existing program'' was under way to add armor to the last of the unit's vehicles when he questioned Rumsfeld.
ping
Maybe the people who have ripped into Rummsflied will apologies now...
I hope McCain, Lott, Hagel, Collins and any other turncoat RINO's choke on this.
Not all weasels are French...
BC = ABC
I heard Rumsfelds answer on Hannitys radio program yesterday and he doesn't sound surprised when he answers. And there is a LOT more to his answer than even this article quotes. I think some "journalists" are self-aggrandizing scum. I have met some that are honest but not many.
To think that the SecDef should be up to date on the "up armoring" schedule of every unit is insanity. He should be looking at the big picture, not looking at a small corner of the picture with a magnifying glass. We also point out that the "up armoring" has up and downsides. Personally, I prefer agile over lumbering.
He could have said he was aware of the problem, and that it was being actively addressed. Simple isn't it, except he really apparently didn't even know that, even as the matter was known by us, and was debated in the campaign, and was a hot issue.
Turns out the basic premise of the question for that soldier in that unit was wrong. If there's a mismatch between the soldier and Rummy, it was the soldier was snookered by a reporter.
The key is out of touch, and not as immersed in the details of what is going on in Iraq on the ground as he should be.
How many details are there? Ever hear of deligation? At some point you let people do their jobs without micromanagement. Believe me, the armor program has been high profile, daily briefing chart stuff for a year now.
I think he realizes that now.
Any reassessment on your part given the above information?
for what gain did this reporter do this? Whats the purpose?
No, Rumsfeld being aware of the issue (which had been for some time a hot potato issue), and aware that it was being actively addressed, is not micromanagement - it is an important aspect of his job. As I said, the man appears out of touch with doings in and about Iraq of which he should be aware. I don't give him a pass on this. He deserves the hits he has taken. That is my best judgment at this time.
Just for drill, have you read the transcript? Did you read the 94 words that he spoke before the "Army you'd like" remarks?
Do you know they've been talking about "Going to war with the Army you've got" for at least 15 years? What were they talking about then?
Huh? Why do you think he was in the ME, talking directly to the troops?
I have read the transcript now, and I retract my remarks in their entirety. And there you have it.
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