http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0213-30.htmby Stephany Kern
The Bush Administration wants us to give more of our precious human resources as well as more of our money to the war in Iraq. Coming from a military family, I do not want any soldiers to be without what they need, but in order to fully understand the problem, I realized I had to look beneath the simplistic cover the administration uses for its reasoning of asking for more.
In order to look objectively at this request for more money I decided to review for myself how the administration has dealt with one basic safety need the troops on the ground have had. Armor for the vehicles sent to Iraq. Guess what? It's still a problem.
Why are the vehicles we send to Iraq still unarmored? After reading much about this issue I had to conclude that the administration and Pentagon have never looked at this issue as a mistake. My common sense tells me you don't send soldiers into a war like this without basic protection for their vehicles. The Pentagon callously did not see this as a significant issue. As a matter of fact, the idea that this was a mistake was dismissed with an off handed remark by Rumsfeld which I am sure we all remember all too well. Thankfully, the story was picked up by a few Congress women and men and the media and there was an effort to correct the problem.
The Pentagon and the administration has had four long years to fix this outrageous negligence and have they made this a priority? No. They seem to have the attitude that our greatest military resource: our soldiers, our son's and daughter's lives are not valuable enough, not worthy enough, to invest and provide proper protection. I can only deduce from this lack of action by the administration and the Pentagon, and from their attitude, that providing troops on the ground with proper equipment is not a priority.
The effort to address the issue began in late 2003 and it's still not corrected! Yes this is true. Oh there have been many "uparmored kits" sent into Iraq and this is good except these kits do not include metal plates for the floor of these vehicles. Most of the “armored vehicles" in Iraq today are considered armored because these kits have been installed. This is not enough protection considering our solders are being killed daily by IED's that are hidden underground, alongside of, and in the roads.
Today unarmored vehicles continue to ship to Iraq. Imagine that. We allocated more money, the administration and those in charge of the money for Iraq can not tell us where the money went, and the soldiers are still driving along those very dangerous roads in "unarmored vehicles" or in vehicles that are partially armored, but without any protection to the very floor of their vehicles.
This seems unbelievable that we, the greatest industrial power in the world, could not solve the simple and entirely fixable problem of unarmored vehicles.
Let me review; we gave plenty of money and we have had plenty of time to make sure the problem was corrected. You would think we would have this straightened out immediately, or at least by the end of 2004, Or at least 2005? How about 2006? Nope, the presumed great super power, America can not provide their military soldiers with the necessity of basic armored vehicles as yet.
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If these tax cuts are made permanent, it won't be George Bush or Dick Cheney's grandchildren that pay for it. It will be your grandchildren and my grandchildren who pay. Yes, my grandchildren, who lost their father in this war, will pay for the war that killed their Dad.
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Why do we ask so much of some, and very little from others? Will it always be this way here in America? Are we the land of equality or of non-equality? What are you willing to do?
Please call your Congress men and women. Let your voice be heard. Please ask them to stop funding this war.
Stephany Kerns' son LCPL Nickolas Schiavoni was killed by an IED on November 15, 2005 in Karmah Iraq. He remains forever 26 years old. Stephany is a member of Military Families Speak
Had trouble snipping it down. The whole article is at the link.
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