http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Hacks%20Target%20Homepage.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=64&rnd=295.28726357775116"Deploying without sufficient armor and then having to fly 70-ton Abrams tanks to Iraq is as flaky as almost everything else about a war where politicians were proclaiming just a year ago that once we drained the swamps, the rest would be rice and flowers.
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“Most of our tanks were left behind, and tankers, gun bunnies and ADA (Air Defense) guys became infantry,” says a 1st Cav leader in Iraq. “What we need are more tanks and tracked APCs (armored personnel carriers). We also need more Strykers (armored carrier vehicles), because tracks are no good for line-haul escort duty. However, the Strykers aren’t the end-all – they’re having problems maneuvering inside cities with RPG-proof cages. Bradleys can turn faster.”
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It’s the type of foggy thinking that reminds me of early 1965, when my parachute brigade was alerted to deploy to Vietnam and we were told we had to take our Army dress uniforms. I yelled at the Pentagon staff officer who gave me the word, and he replied, “We're envisioning a short war.” Or the Pentagon's failure in 1993 to send requested tanks to Mogadishu. The result: “Black Hawk Down,” where a lot of good men died or got shot up.
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Since the vast majority of the American people are not yet affected by the carnage, waste and stupidity, the death mill of Iraq will grind on until more and more of our sons’ and daughters’ bodies are flown into Dover Air Force Base at the dead of night to keep the photos off Page One. Unless the people wake up quick smart and demand decent leadership from the top to the bottom of our armed forces, that sad day will come."
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