Memo to U.S. Troops: Don't expect 3 meals a day anymore...

[IndyOp]

:grr: :mad: :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad:

The Surge is Failing and We're Hurting the Troops
by Larry C Johnson

Some brave soul in the U.S. military sent Pat Lang a memo issued Monday that shows the U.S. ability to support its troops is collapsing and very vulnerable to disruption.

The memo states: Due to a theater-wide delay in food delivery, menu selections will be limited for the near future. While every effort will be made to provide balanced meals, it may not be possible to offer the dishes you are used to seeing at each meal. Fresh fruits and salad bar items will also be severely limited or unavailable.

The bottom line is that our troops depend on a ground supply line that runs from Kuwait to the various bases in Iraq. When I was in Iraq last year at the U.S. base in Balad I had the chance to eat four meals a day--breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight rations (midrats). If you like late nights the midrats were great--steak, eggs, pancakes. Pretty good food. Well, based on this memo, it looks like those were the good old days. We don't have enough convoys to give our troops three hot meals a day. We want them to step up the patrolling. We want them to search 24-7 for missing soldiers. But, by God, they don't deserve three hot meals a day.

Excuse my rudeness, but that is fucked up. Way to go General Petraeus.

=========

Iraq Food Delivery memo available for download at NO QUARTER
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/05/the_surge_is_fa.html

An army moves on it's stomach, when you can't supply food for the troops the military mission is almost over -- I pray... and I pray that few people die from bad decisions made while anxious due to hunger.

[fooj]

1. OMG. This CAN'T be happening.

[Vincardog]

2. Wasn't Cheney's old company taking over the non vital activities for the troops like Food and Water?

[fooj]

3. FUCK YOU, KBR! Fuck you!

[truedelphi]

29. KBR must be so busy re-building New Orleans that they

Just can't supply our troops!

<Not>

[AndyA]

4. The troops just need to be brought home.

The Bush Administration is not supporting them in Iraq.

It is killing them. Literally.

Bring the troops home, Congress. You know what you must do, so DO IT!

[tabasco]

5. The new improved corporate-Army !

Now able to fight on a bowl of rice per day!

Republicans say:

"They volunteered - - FUCK 'EM!!"

[phusion]

6. Hold on a sec...

The memo says that they won't be able to provide "the dishes you are used to seeing" for the near future. And then it talks about a possible lack of fruit/salad bar items...It doesn't say they won't be provided with at least 3 meals a day. Whatever happened to soldiers eating MREs once in a while?

::donning flame suit::

[SammyWinstonJack]

12. 8 billion a month and the troops should expect too only eat MREs?

Something is way fucked up about that! Bet they aren't eating MREs in the Green Zone.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Larry was on the Hartman show

and he means the supply chain is broken, truly broken

He compared this to Napoleon in Russia, early stages

You do the math

Oh and as to MREs, they are not getting those either, see trucks cannot get there from here

[phusion]

21. Gotcha...

The memo doesn't point to the scope of the problem, apparently. No surprise, really...

[Clark2008]

22. Compare it to the Civil War, too.

The way the Union beat the Confederacy was to cut off shipping, which was bringing in food to the troops.

The troops were malnourished and couldn't fight well - effectively causing Lee's surrender.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. You got it

and hartman mentioned both Nam (Diem bien Phu for those who missed the reference) and Algeria

It ain't gonna be pretty

[IndyOp]

37. The way Larry Johnson explained it on Thom Hartmann's show today -

This will reduce some soldiers from 4 complete, warm meals a day to 2. I would consider an MRE a reasonable substitute for a warm meal, but not on a regular basis. Isn't it likely the memo will underplay the seriousness of the situation? As in "you won't see the dishes you are used to seeing" = "hope you enjoy camel meat and you'll need to hunt wild camel yourselves if you want some"...

Also - the inability to get food to the troops is a critical part of this story. I've been reading for many months that most of the food travels up through Iraq on one main highway -- there are other routes, but most of the supplies travel on this one very important route. So, obviously, if the Iraqis who want us the hell out of their country attack that supply line this will impact food and other supplies.

It is an indication that something like the fall of Saigon may be afoot -- and an indication, as other replies in this thread note -- that caring for troops is NOT what the administration values even though they hypocritically use "support the troops" as a reason to continue the occupation/genocide.

[Horse with no Name]

7. We don't give them food when they are hungry

We don't give them blankets when they are cold.
We don't give them body armor to save their lives.
We don't give them appropriate healthcare when they come back stateside.

Yeah...we support the troops. The magnetic yellow ribbons say we do and I believe them.

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. ...

:thumbsup:

[kenny blankenship]

8. I keep saying "we should leave Iraq while we still have an army"

The longer we stay the worse shape we'll be in when we leave
and we WILL leave one day --just up and leave like a perp fleeing the scene of his crime

With all of our strategic objectives & conditions unmet and/or lost.

We're going to need that army--that army we're now destroying-- in ways we probably didn't before we squandered it in Iraq.

[yellerpup]

9. This is Halliburton's way of tipping in

Why don't we agree to pay for the troops, but ask Halliburton to "wait" 60 days for their mess hall management invoice to be paid? Or maybe they wouldn't even mind waiting for 90 days, considering how much money they've made so far -- we could just tell them "all we need is a chance to see if the troop surge is working, then you can get your money." After all, Halliburton has a bigger stake in the outcome of this debacle than anyone else on the face of the planet--of course they are going to throw their prodigious weight around whenever possible. Their threat in the OP to cut back on fresh foods for soldiers should be printed on the front page of every newspaper in the country. Cut off the funding for Halliburton and the war is over.

[Ganja Ninja]

11. "Happy Memorial Day!"

What was that Dick Cheney said back in 2000 "Help is on the way".

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind now what's coming down the road in Iraq? It's the Alamo, Custer's Last Stand and the Donner Party all rolled into one.

[SammyWinstonJack]

30. And george told military members that "there's a new sheriff in town."

I remember being on AOL at the time, discussing this in AOL's political chat rooms. Back then, the repug military members were elated that george would be their new CinC. They hated Clinton! Said he had kept them deployed for long periods and that he basically demoralized the military. :crazy: I wonder what they have too say now, six years gone? AFAIK , Pres. Clinton didn't get any of them killed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. My husband didn't have that view

the uptempo and the craziness started after the new sherffif came in

[SammyWinstonJack]

34. That's right! Which is why I wonder what those who said that think about their

"new sheriff" now? I bet many of them wish it weren't so. They said many hateful things about Pres. Clinton, called him a draft dodger...:rofl: etc. They believed everything george told them, including..he would make sure they had more time with their families...:eyes: ...he would make sure they had better pay increases...:rofl: and that he wouldn't send them on long deployments........:rofl: It's sad really that they put their faith and trust in him and he does nothing more than use them for his never ending wars which only enrich his corrupt corporate bidness buddies, all the while ignoring the military rank and file's basic needs.

[lpbk2713]

13. But there's plenty of plastic turkey to go around.

"Line forms over here boys!"

[Clark2008]

14. "Fucked up" is too nice a phrase.

Support our Troops, my fat, pregnant ass.

:grr: :nuke: :banghead:

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. FUBAR

there are other choice acronyms

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Heard this

the army is close to collapse

That is the unvarnished truth,

Even more unvarnished it is collapsed, it just does not know it yet

[Clark2008]

23. This is not my husband's Army, that's for sure.

My husband had the good fortune to serve under the Clinton Administration and Gen. Wesley Clark. He was well-fed, trained well and taken care of.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Trust me I have known the mess with the supply chain

from word go... as my husband was in the Navy.

but this is just a worsening situation.

No paoper, no food, no bullets

Whether you agree wiht the war or not, when the troops take the field they need the gear

they haven't had it from word go

[Clark2008]

40. Correct.

I, personally, believe in a well-funded defense (and, by that, I don't mean funding for KBR and Halliburton and unnecessary "toys," I mean a standing Army to protect our borders and, at times, help with humanitarian causes).

I don't believe in jaunts of folly for spoiled brat leaders who are trying to best their daddies or who want to look tough.

However, either way, these men and women are serving their country - even when they're called upon by idiotic and insane civilian leaders to fight unnecessary wars - and should be taken care of.

[kwyjibo]

16. I hope this gets corrected soon

I can't imagine how awful it must be over there already, now having to go hungry on top of being shot at and all the other bullshit.

[WI_DEM]

19. What's that old saying, "an army marches on its stomach" and now

what will they march on? Devotion to Bush!? Give me a break.

[partylessinOhio]

20. Was Squeaker aware that some of our troops' food supplies may be

severely limited or unavailable ... WHEN ...

she agreed to give * his war funds without any timetable for troop withdrawals?

If not, perhaps Pelosi should reconsider her support of Bush.

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. She ain't voting for the bill

she stated that yesterday

Taht said, this should be told to our critters, like now

[crikkett]

25. 1) temporary problem 2) they're saying 'maybe' MREs

will be needed in the future but only if the delivery problems persist.

From the memo:

TO: All Mission Employees

Due to a theater-wide delay in food delivery, menu selections will be limited for the near future. While every effort will be made to provide balanced meals, it may not be possible to offer the dishes you are used to seeing at each meal. Fresh fruits and salad bar items will also be severely limited or unavailable.

Although we are expending every effort to resolve the situation, should the food convoys be delayed further, DFACs will be required to serve MREs for at least one meal out of the day.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause but we ask for your understanding of the situation.

Approved: MGT/S. Muench
Drafted: MGT/E. Butler

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. And that my freind was the sitaution in Barhrain in 2003

and they were hungry

This is not temporary and if you believe this, welll I have a bridge to sell you

[EFerrari]

32. Please send this to NANCY PELOSI: Link to her form:

http://www.house.gov/pelosi/contact/contact.html

:nuke:

[MistressOverdone]

33. I didn't read the link

does it actually say they won't provide three meals a day?

[EFerrari]

36. You have to read it. Yes, it does. n/t

[catmandu57]

35. I've often wondered how the supply line has stayed intact

It seems to me that the best way for the Iraqis to kick us out would be to attack our long, long supply line every day in as many places as possible. I've long felt that our military there is a sitting duck, just waiting to be swallowed up, How we've lasted this long says something about the American military, i've got to tip my hat to them.

[Richard Steele]

38. We can pay mercenaries 30 grand a month, but the REAL soldiers have to go without food.

A not-so-subtle hint that CORPORATIONS have superceded Nations.

Welcome to the New World Order.

[damntexdem]

39. Hey, Halliburton and the other vendors have to have their priorities straight.

And they point straight to the bottom line, certainly not to the troops.

And, after all, logistics are just so much hard work -- hard work, I tell you.

[RamboLiberal]

41. According the the Washington Post it's the Green Zone

that has suffered the delayed food deliveries. They may have to make one meal a day an MRE instead of their normal salad bar, fresh fruit, Baskin & Robbins.

I posted story in LBN. Here's WP link. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR2007052301344.html?hpid=topnews