Maybe it’s just too expensive…
Marine Pfc. Jeremy Tod called home with news that his superiors were urging him and fellow Marines to buy special military equipment, including flak jackets with armor plating, to enhance the prospects of their survival.
advertisementThe message was that such purchases were to be made by Marines with their own money.
“He said they strongly suggested he get this equipment because when they get to Iraq they will wish they had,” Tod said.
Total estimated cost: $600.
Tod said his son’s call about two weeks ago from the Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma was a sobering reminder that the military is not prepared to equip Pfc. Tod and fellow Marines with the best equipment.
Besides the essential flak jacket with steel “trauma” plates, the shopping list for the young Marine included a Camelbak (water pouch) special ballistic goggles, knee and elbow pads, a “drop pouch” to hold ammunition magazines and a load-bearing vest.
It’s not the cost that concerns him, even though the self-employed home repairman will have to dig deep for the cash.
“We’re supposed to have a professional army,” he said, “the best in the world. And we’re not providing them with the type of gear they need to protect themselves as they do their jobs.”
If only we could track down the $8.8 billion dollars missing in Iraq… But hey, let’s not quibble. Let’s extend our war on the cheap to the entire government. Make Cheney and Bush pay for the fuel for Air Force One & Two. Make Rumsfeld pay the light bill at the Pentagon. From now on, Condi gets to vacuum the floors at the White House and Sensenbrenner has to pay for gavels out of his own pocket
To have a “Support the Troops” magnetic ribbon and a Bush/Cheney sticker on the same car is to exhibit cognitive dissonance in its highest degree.
