http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/12-12-04_z1_news_02.htmlLocal Indiana National Guard troops are likely to face shortages of armored vehicles in Iraq.
In the wake of a Tennessee National Guard troop telling Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that troops are scrounging landfills for scrap metal, Indiana National Guard officials concede troops may be armoring their own trucks after they touch down in Kuwait.
“I do not have a sense of what the local procurement process is or what has been shipped,” said Lt. Col. Barry Richmond, operations director with the Indiana National Guard.
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Richmond stressed that Indiana National Guard officials have faith in the U.S. Department of Defense ability to outfit its troops as they move into the combat zone. The trucks assigned to the 113th Engineering Battalion have already been shipped, without armor. The unit commander has been assured there are an unspecified number of armored Humvees waiting for them, from the unit they are replacing.
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here's a couple opinion pieces today regarding armored vehicles:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0412120228dec12,1,6950166.column?coll=chi-news-col(free registration or try www.bugmenot.com)
Just answer the question, Mr. RumsfeldWASHINGTON -- If you don't like the message, knock the messenger, as an old spin doctor's motto goes. That's how some people are reacting to a soldier's question that knocked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld off his game during a town hall session in Kuwait last week.
Spec. Thomas Wilson, a scout with a Tennessee National Guard unit, asked Rumsfeld why soldiers still have to fortify their canvas-covered Humvees with "hillbilly armor," scrap metal and ballistic-resistant glass that they dig out of landfills for protection. After a brief moment of stony silence, the comment brought a spontaneous eruption of "hooahs" and applause from other troops.
It also brought a remarkably condescending response from Rumsfeld, who may have become too accustomed to treating reporters like annoyingly curious children to quickly shift to a tone appropriate for the combat men and women under his command.
"You go to war with the Army you have," he said, "not the one you might want or the one you might wish to have at a later time."
That was a curious comment, considering how much time President Bush's Defense Department has had to build up to "the Army we might want."
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and
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vppay124081263dec12,0,1417569.column?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlinesPentagon adept at deflecting truthThe top military official in the richest nation on Earth did not reassure soldiers en route to fight - and possibly to die - in Iraq that they would have sufficient equipment for the battlefield.
Posing a problem clearly on the minds of his comrades, Spc. Thomas Wilson asked U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld why were they so poorly equipped with armor. "Why do us soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-arm our vehicles?" the Tennessee Guardsman asked. "And why don't we have those resources available to us?"
Rumsfeld asked Wilson to repeat the question. This tactic usually gains Rumsfeld an advantage when he uses it with the press. But Spc. Wilson, no matter who suggested wording for the first question, seized the advantage with even greater force.
"A lot of us are getting ready to move north relatively soon," the airplane mechanic said. "Our vehicles are not armored. We're digging pieces of rusted scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass ... picking the best out of this scrap to put on our vehicles to take into combat. We do not have proper armament vehicles to carry with us north."
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