So Far, So Good for New MRAPs, Raptors

[unhappycamper]

So Far, So Good for New MRAPs, Raptors
Defense Daily | November 08, 2007


Lawmakers yesterday approved a $459.6 billion conference report to fund the Defense Department in fiscal year 2008 that includes $11.6 billion in emergency funding for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

The bill should reach the House floor by Thursday, and the Senate also intends to vote on the report this week, lawmakers said.

The bill includes a continuing resolution that will keep the government running for another month after the current resolution expires Nov. 15.

The decision to add funding for agencies outside the Defense Department was a point of contention during yesterday's conference committee meeting that was opened to members of the press mid-stream so they could hear Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, express his objections and offer a $70 bridge fund as an amendment to the bill.

The amendment included funding to provide fuel, equipment and pay to troops in the field, Stevens said, adding that without the money, the Army and Marines will have to begin shutting down contracts and diverting money from other accounts to pay for the war.

"Congress would break the Army if it refuses to provide the money these forces need now. To me I do not think we should take that risk," Stevens said.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,155795,00.html



uhc comment: I think Teddie's tubes are still clogged --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=56114

[Birthmark]

1. We should probably give up on the military.

I mean, the US military is so fragile that practically anything any civilian does or says will "break the Army." We must not be very good at army-ing. Maybe we should replace the military with a really good ping pong team.

[NYVet]

2. Or...

Our elected leaders could stop telling us that we have lost the war and that we are terrorists.

I have not served over 16 years in the military to have someone accuse me of intentionally murdering innocent civilians and that I and my fellow servicemembers can't win a war.

I have seen studies that show that when you repeat a message over and over to a group of people, it begins to affect them on the mental level. Maybe the people giving the messages that we (the members of the military) are evil should shut their yaps for a while.

[Birthmark]

3. You were accused of murder?

By whom? When?

And why don't you complain about those that fail to recognize that the war was won? It is the occupation that has been lost.

I think that you're all turned around.

Care for some ping pong?

[NYVet]

4. I should have clarified the statement.

In a broad sense, John Murtha, before any investigation was done, accused Marines, and troops in Iraq of cold blooded murder. Investigations followed that found those Marines not guilty of the charges made by John Murtha and he has never apologized for his words on the floor of the House.


John Kerry made a statement that American Troops were terrorizing Iraqi people. He also has never apologized.






I do agree with you. The war was won, but now the nation building has gone HORRIBLY awry.

[Birthmark]

5. I wouldn't take it personally, if I were you.

Politicians say a lot of things. Some always can be taken out of context, or someone can say something injudicious, one of which I believe covers Kerry.

Murtha's comments were without justification and he should apologize.

The war was won magnificently by our military. As you say, the nation building...not so much. But nation building isn't really a military function. Not to mention that Bush ignored the military people who were honest with him about what it would take militarily to stabilize Iraq.

[NYVet]

6. That we F***ed the 2nd half of the Iraq war has pissed me off to no end.

And I knew one of the latest casualties from the 10th Mountain Division. I was an MP on Ft Drum for a while and I worked with one of them.

[Birthmark]

7. Sorry to hear that.

And I don't blame you for being pissed. No one likes to see their hard work go for naught. I can't imagine how much worse it is when that hard work goes for naught AND is accompanied by the deaths of friends and family. It was utterly avoidable. Rummy and Bush wanted the occupation to be cheap. They got what *you* and others like you paid for. The bastards.


(On a lighter note, I'm so old that I remember when it was *Camp* Drum. lol )

[NYVet]

9. So you were Cav when it was on horseback?

I didn't know that you relics were still around.

:P



Just kidding

[Birthmark]

11. I didn't serve in Camp Drum.

I grew up in the Albany area, so I was aware of it.

Although I did do a three year hitch in the Army. I still remember that first Gatling Gun. Man, those were the days! :)

[MH1]

8. How would you feel

If armed soldiers of an occupation army burst into your house at 3 am and started yelling at you and your family in a language you didn't understand, while waving guns around?

Terrified, perhaps? Experiencing a little terror?

Do you believe that hasn't happened in Iraq?

If you look at the context of Kerry's statement, he was talking about the situation I just described.

[NYVet]

10. Words are everything.

Senator Kerry has been around for a while and he should know that.

He knew that those particular words have a powerful effect on people and IMO, he deliberately chose to use them on a national stage like he did.

[MH1]

12. And his words were completely true.

I am sorry if you have a problem with the truth.

Did you take a wrong turn, btw?

[NYVet]

13. His words were not true.

His comment that American troops were terrorizing people is an insult to everyone who has served in the military.

Americans soldiers who enter a house in search of those who would blow up innocent people in marketplaces with car bombs is no different than Police officers who raid a meth lab to arrest drug dealers who poison our towns with drugs.

[MH1]

14. I have served in the military

And it was no insult to me at all.

If police officers burst into MY house in search of drugs which are not here, break up the place and yell at my family in a foreign language - I would feel VERY terrorized.

The problem is that the soldiers were not properly TRAINED to do this in the correct way that shows respect for people - and THAT is the fault of your buddy George and his minions who got us into this war without proper planning and preparation.

Just tell me, what right do we have to go into a foreign country and break down people's doors in the middle of the night, wave guns at them and shout in a language they don't understand? Do you honestly believe that they will see that as helpful?

[rakeeb]

15. I'm still serving in the military, and what I find offensive

is when folks use misleading statements about troops as a means to bash Bush.
By all means, say whatever you feel about him, he's provided ample reasons, but the simple fact of the matter is, yes, thousands upon thousands of troops (U.S. Iraqi and coalition) have been properly trained to enter homes to conduct low threat searches, with every effort made to repsect the occupants' homes, rights and customs.

High threat, the kind you are describing above, requires operating at night with speed and a sense of purpose for the safety of the troops involved. You'd be surprised to learn how few of these occur in comparision to the former described. The latter requires two independent, verifiable sources of information, more than is required to execute a search warrant in the U.S.
I fail to see the purpose or justification for purposely obfuscating this situation.