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?


Tags- GWOT, Democrats