Thursday, July 17, 2003

From a soldier's father: "My son is in the U.S.Army and currently stationed in Baghdad. I hear from him every three or four days. He is like most of the young men and women who went to fight over there inasmuch as he was proud to go and achieve what President Bush said was necessary. I have seen his attitude take a U-turn during the last month. At first he was saying: "I wonder why we are not doing this or that to help make life better for our soldiers?" Then he started to wonder why we were not doing more to help the Iraqi people who are suffering under terrible conditions. Not enough water or food, no electricity most of the time, a terrible shortage of medical supplies and medical staff, basically they are living like animals. Then he started to worry about the safety of our troops in the area. He says they are sitting ducks and easy targets for Iraqi people bent upon gaining revenge for slain family members and by those who hold the U.S. responsible for the terrible conditions they find themselves in. Yesterday he had a different message altogether." "Get us out of here now! There is nothing we can do to pacify the Iraqi people except get out of their country and allow them to restore order in whatever way THEY wish." And, allow me to give you his remarks when he was informed of President Bush's brash remarks saying "Bring them on." He said: "Myself and every last man in my unit are deeply offended that our President would make such a statement inviting us to be attacked. President Bush has lost the respect of every soldier I have spoken to because of his speaking those irresponsible words. Those words spread like wild-fire amoung the troops. We are here because he ordered us to be here and now for him to make such a ridiculous statement inviting violence towards us causes us to lose respect for him and his judgement. We are learning that we never should have come here in the first place. Believe me Dad, there is a completely different attitude now. The fact that the President gave rich people a tax cut and didn't do anything for military families is hurtful. Where there was once pride and satisfaction in defeating an enemy there is now regret and shame. God Bless America. Your loving Son, Donny [Tennessean.com] 9:11:20 AM    comment () TSA handgun contract draws ire of firearms makers. Through a series of missteps, the Transportation Security Administration has run afoul of the world's leading gun manufacturers in an attempt to award a three-year, $5 million contract for the semiautomatic handguns it plans to give commercial airline pilots to defend their cockpits. The agency drew the heaviest fire after it appeared to bow to pressure from the office of Rep. J. D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., to drop a possible deal with the Austrian gunmaker Glock and focus instead on buying guns from venerable Smith & Wesson, an American-owned firm based in Hayworth's district. Only after vigorous protests last month by Beretta, an Italian handgun supplier to the U.S. military, and other firms did TSA drop narrowly drawn contract specifications favorable to Smith & Wesson and open up the competition industry-wide. [FirearmNews.com] The article is from a government news site, so there's no comment made on the absurdity of the Terrorist Safety Administration, which never wanted pilots to be armed in the first place, turning the whole thing into a pork barrel. If the government actually cared about airline safety, all they would have to do is get out of the way and let pilots carry their own guns. 8:55:07 AM    comment () I Fought the Law and the Law Spun. The Justice Department has been working hard to assuage public concerns about the scope of intrusive powers granted to law enforcement by the PATRIOT Act. The only problem, according to the ACLU, is that they have to lie to do it. You can download their full report here. [Hit & Run] It's hardly surprising that the government would lie about the effects of their new law. 8:51:59 AM    comment ()

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