Thursday, May 03, 2007

Democrats, the Army, and a rant or two

Just the other day my Dad was musing about whether or not the new, improved vehicles have gotten to Iraq yet. I guess the answer is no-

Armored Vehicles for Iraq Delayed

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq - The armored carrier has a grim black slash across its side, burn marks on the door and a web of cracks along the window.

Like most of the Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Anbar province, this one has been hit as many as three times by enemy fire and bomb blasts. Yet, to date, no American troops have died while riding in one.

But efforts to buy thousands more carriers - each costing about $1 million - could be delayed if the White House and Congress do not resolve their deadlock over a $124.2 billion war spending bill.


Grrrrr.....

If I hear ANY Democrat decrying the fact that 'our boys are dying over there because they don't have these vehicles', I may well bite my tongue off trying to be civil.

If the Dems REALLY cared about the troops, and about getting them home safely and quickly, they would pass a funding bill TOMORROW with no time line and no extra pork projects. But, as we know, these idiots are more interested in lining their own pockets and in thumbing their nose at anything the President says he needs. I swear, if the President mentioned that the White House is painted white, certain members of the opposition party would denounce him as a racist and demand that the building be repainted (at tax payer expense of course) to reflect the multicultural nature of the country.

It never occurs to them that the fastest way to get our guys home might just be to give them the tools they need to do their job and let them go do it! In that, the Administration does have some culpability. They are the ones who occasionally tie the hands of our troops in the current Rules of Engagement. But at least THAT I can understand, they are trying to do the job AND keep the local population on our side. That's tough in the best of circumstances.

And, lest anyone thing I never have anything bad to say about the Army, I read this piece today as well-

Senator Tells Army to Reconsider M4

It seems that the Army is ordering more M4's, even though they have shown to be less than optimal in the current conflicts, and there are other weapons that ARE available.

Now, admittedly, it could well be that they needed to get this new contract to get something in the works to get more weapons in our soldiers hands more quickly. But even so, at the very least I can hear the liberals already crying out how we don't send out our troops with the best equipment money can buy (never mind the fact that they don't want to PAY for that equipment!).

Sigh. Hopefully they will be looking at these other alternatives as well and coming up with a better general issue weapon in the very near future. But I know these things take time. Maybe some of my military minded readers can let me know their opinions on the other potential weapons being discussed?


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7 Comments:

At May 07, 2007 3:44 AM, Blogger Alicia said...

Hey, how are you doing? I hope you had a good weekend.

I read this yesterday but had to take some more time to think. You're a very thoughtful writer, and I wanted to do your post justice!

I can't offer an opinion on potential weapons, although I'd enjoy a link/post to what they might be (and I'll be checking back for more comments).

I think you made your rant in a very appropriate place. You made some good points in the rant, too. First, those who are against the war are working to sabotage the war effort rather than arguing directly to end it, and that's not only wrong but counterproductive, and harmful to our soldiers. Second, politicians have no business adding pet projects to war funding bills, whether they're doing it in order to see the bills not passed, or because they're greedy for their projects.

>It never occurs to them that the fastest way to get our guys home might just be to give them the tools they need to do their job and let them go do it!

That was a very good thesis sentence! It might be the starting point for an article, or letter to the editor, or another post? I think that the nutshell of the legitimate debate is what our "job" really is (i.e. how long to fight and how much to let Iraqi home forces handle it). I don't know if there's any way to come to a consensus on that. But at the very least, I think that everyone, Republican and Democrat alike, should separate that debate from the practicalities of giving our troops what they need (whether the best weapons money can buy, or whether something less expensive but still useful enough for the work they need to do).

 
At May 11, 2007 4:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

How about placing the blame where it really belongs: with our stunningly hypocritical President, the one man who's ACTUALLY denying funding to the troops.

It was the Democrats in Congress who voted to fund production of these vehicles. It was the President who vetoed that funding. Revise history all you like, but you can't shift the blame away from him.

 
At May 11, 2007 12:18 PM, Blogger Kyrie Drake said...

I just KNEW some one would come back with that laughably predictable response. So, the President was supposed to sign a bill that would have tied the hands of the generals as to the best way to prosecute this war AND included millions of dollars of unnecessary pork projects (the only way Pelosi and Co could get many memebers of her OWN party to sign on to this bill)?

Sorry, they KNEW that he would veto it and did it anyway and did it to say they were supporting the troops without actually have to. IF the president vetos a funding bill for the troops without all this extra garbage, THEN I'll join you in blaming him.

But, hey, thanks for taking time to read and comment!

 
At May 12, 2007 3:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"So, the President was supposed to sign a bill that would have tied the hands of the generals as to the best way to prosecute this war"

Yes, that's exactly what he should've done. The war is lost, and we should get out of it as quickly as possible. Most Americans already recognize this, but unfortunately Bush prides himself on ignoring reality in favor of wishful thinking. As, apparently, do you.

Bills like this one are precisely what the American people gave the Democrats control of Congress to pass.

 
At May 12, 2007 10:23 AM, Blogger Kyrie Drake said...

The war is not lost, not according to the people who are actually FIGHTING it, and THEY are the ones who know better than ANYONE in Washington.

It is NOT the job of Congress to run the war, it is their job to fund or not fund it. Period. If they don't want to fund it, then let them have the balls to DO THAT. (But they know that the American people don't supprt that!) But tying the hands of the commanders on the ground with strings and conditions, or only funding for two months and then MAYBE another six does nothing to bring them home sooner and only increases the possibity of more of our soldiers getting killed.

SUPPORT THE TROOPS
LET THEM WIN

 
At May 13, 2007 3:24 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wishful thinking cannot make reality go away. This is not a situation where if a few more Iraqis can be killed the rest will surrender. This war cannot be "won", and certainly not through more "stay the course" like you advocate. And please don't spout about how the soldiers in Iraq "know" things are going well; you're not the only one with a direct line to soldiers, and no, things are not going well.

 
At May 13, 2007 1:04 PM, Blogger Kyrie Drake said...

Well then, I guess we will have to agree to disagree here.

There's really nothing left to say.

But I do appreciate your comming here in any case!

 

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