One Way Not To Fire Up The Troops
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld faced some tough questions today from troops in Kuwait. Those soldiers have a long list of concerns, and this was their chance to hear straight from the head of the Defense Department the whys and wherefors of their dilemmas.
I think some left the meeting a little discouraged.
The response from Rumsfeld to this question posed by Army Spc. Thomas Wilson leaves me particularly dumbfounded:
"Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?"
That is a fairly straightforward question about an extremely serious issue to the troops. Why do they have to scrounge around through junk piles looking for ways to protect themselves from landmines and roadside bombs that have killed or wounded hundreds if not thousands in Iraq?
Rumsfeld's response:
"You can have all the armor in the world on a tank and it can (still) be blown up."
Ouch.
Not we're working are hardest to get those armored vehicles up to par. Not we're sorry, but some mistakes have been made and we're trying to rectify the situation. Not we will immediately get new armored vehicles into Iraq.
Nope, instead (and I'm paraphrasing) his response to that soldier and the thousands serving in Iraq is a concise "Sucks to be you."
7:03:59 PM |
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