Democrats Blame Rumsfeld for Mistakes in Iraq

[TacticalPeek]

Democrats Blame Rumsfeld for Mistakes in Iraq
Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:09 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats on Saturday said U.S. soldiers in Iraq lacked adequate body armor and plated vehicles because of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's flawed leadership.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, in the Democrats' weekly radio address, blasted the Pentagon under Rumsfeld for "a litany of serious miscalculations" including underestimating the Iraqis resistance and failing to give troops enough protective equipment even though Congress gave it all the money it requested.

"The Pentagon says the lack of protective equipment is a matter of 'logistics.' No it's not. It's a matter of leadership," Durbin said.

"Those responsible for planning this war were not prepared for the reality on the ground, and many of our soldiers have paid the price," he said, citing nearly 1,300 U.S. service members who have died in Iraq and more than 10,000 injured.


more
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7130683

[cal04]

1. Democrats Wants Answers on Troops' Armor

The incoming deputy leader of Senate Democrats demanded answers Saturday from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as to why U.S. soldiers in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) lack protective equipment for themselves and their vehicles.


"We can, and we should, armor every Humvee and every truck our troops use in Iraq and Afghanistan," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in his party's weekly radio address. "No more excuses, no more delays. We can save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of serious injuries."

Congress has given the Bush administration all the defense spending it has requested, yet there are still 3,500 Humvees without protective armor and about 44,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan without adequate body armor, Durbin said.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041218/ap_on_go_co/democrats_armor

[KansDem]

5. This is a crime greater than BushCo itself...

The fact that Bush et al sent American troops into harm's way without proper equipment. And for Rummy to blow it off as "you go in with what you have" would be ludicrous if it hasn't been so tragic.

Still no armor? Where's f*cking Corporate America on this??? How long did it take Detroit to retool and redye and switch from making Buicks to making tanks for WW2? Overnight? It's been almost two years and Corporate America still hasn't risen to this occasion!!!

This makes me sick! Bush promised to defend corporate interests in his campaign of 2000 (Remember? He promised government wouldn't interfere with corporate interests, or some such nonsense...). He should have promised to defend US troops he put in danger by providing them which the armor they needed.

It's the least he could have done for their work and sacrifice...

[0007]

22. Rumsfeld is just a piss ant! Better look hard at the Commander

in Chief.

[Pirate Smile]

2. BLAME BUSH - not just Rumsfeld.

[vpigrad]

3. Exactly!

Attacking Rumsfeld only distracts from the real problem: Bush! How about attacking the problem rather than the symptom?

[acmavm]

7. There' s plenty of blame to go around. bush*, wolf, rummy, feith, tenet,

powell, rice, et. al.

[Pirate Smile]

16. I agree. I just think Bush is where the buck should stop and he seems to

slide by because people assume he is clueless. He is responsible.

I'm not criticizing the Dems, just hoping we will keep the focus on Idiot-boy.

[w4rma]

14. They don't get to write the headlines, unfortunately. (nt)

[lumpy]

24. Bush is beginning to look

like another 'teflon president'(Reagan) Bush has failed in every endeavor that he has entered into; the oil industry, ballclub business, Texas air national guard, and from what I can gather the Governorship of Texas. He should be held responsible for the biggest blunder of all, the failed presidency of the once great country called the United States of America.

[SKKY]

4. OK folks, this bandwagon is getting a bit too crowded...

...If you weren't complaining about the material state of the military before, do not start now. Just because a kid from Tennessee has the stones to ask SECDEF the tough questions and you didn't, that does not give you license to ride the coat tails. I wish for once one of these fuckers would do something without first thinking of their political career.

[Trajan]

8. 'Material State' ....

One neednt approve of trillion dollar weapon systems to appreciate the need for SAFE equipment for our soldiers ....

One CAN be a pacificist, and STILL wish our military had the proper hardware to maintain the safety of our troops, who are, after all, our sons and daughters ....

[sandnsea]

9. Pay more attention

Kerry's been calling for Rumsfeld's resignation since 2003. Nancy Pelosi called for it earlier this year. This isn't anything new. But one more time, trash the Dems instead of Bush. That's been such an effective strategy these last 4 years. :eyes:

[Career Prole]

11. You've not been paying attention, sailor.

The lack of armor has been an open sore loudly for over a year and sotto voce since the troops were rushed in.

Another Old Sailor

[Mr_Spock]

12. So, no Dem has asked tough questions before that kid in Iraq?

Or,was it that nobody in this fucking arrogant administration would listen to anybody until this kid had the unmitigated gaul & guts to ask this question (that has been repeated over and over again by MANY others) to no avail until it finally embarrased them into doing something?

What did you do? I'll admit that I'm a bit miffed that these folks weren't more vocal between the time the kid asked the question and now though - they waited until many many Republican congressmen and commentators called for his resignation until saying anything. Not exactly stellar leadership.

[SKKY]

15. Exactly Mr_Spock, that's my point...

...for the most part, DEMS have been silent about this issue- for the most part. Now, it seems that as this gains momentum, and people on both sides of the aisle see there's less and less to lose politically, they're all chiming in. It reminds me of the seagulls in the movie "Finding Nemo". Meanwhile, it's us, those that serve, who catch the brunt of this.

[EFerrari]

23. Thinking about this, I now remember Henry Waxman, Pelosi

maybe a few others piping up. But, we're the minority so not very good coverage. I don't know how Waxman gets any at all but he's so right on and in their faces, the press seems to cover him like you would someone putting their hean in a lion's mouth.

[Cocoa]

13. Durbin has been talking about this since day one

he's THE leader on the issue of properly equipping the troops.

[EFerrari]

18. Has he? I don't remember seeing him. Good for him, then

[EFerrari]

17. Stars and Stripes was reporting this since Bagdad fell. -- it's not

news. Watching how the pols respond to it is disgusting.

Supplylines, WATER, and armor. And I agree with you. I wish for once ANY of them did something for the military that we could point to and say, "Hey, that's not CYA."

Which is why I subscribed to S&S when the war started, so I could get news from a credible source.

[TacticalPeek]

19. I'll complain whenever I damn well please. Welcome to the bandwagon.

Google around for Democratic Leader Pelosi and Rep Murtha's press conference of September 2003. A c-span archive would be nice. Murtha's words would melt the ears off of a Bush apologist. The dems have been all over this for well over a year, including appropriation action to force the Republican-controlled congress to compensate service members for buying their own body armor.

--------------------------------


Iraq Toll Hits a Nerve With Murtha
Veteran Hawk Says Some Bush Strategists Have to Go

By David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 27, 2003; Page A07

John P. Murtha, who came to the House of Representatives in a 1974 special election, was the first Vietnam War veteran to enter Congress. A Bronze Star holder, the old Marine has been one of the Pentagon's best friends, looking out for the military budget as ranking Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee on defense.

It was, therefore, anything but a routine moment when the normally publicity-shy Pennsylvanian joined dovish House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at a Sept. 16 news conference criticizing the administration's handling of the war in Iraq and its aftermath.

...

What brought the crusty 71-year-old carwash owner to this unexpected point was a series of hearings and briefings, two personal inspections of the front, and his five visits with Iraq war veterans being treated in military hospitals for their wounds.

As Murtha said at the news conference, he had gone to Bethesda Naval Medical Center to cheer up a young Marine demolitions expert who had lost an eye and a hand when a bomb exploded.

...

"The president has to decide who should go," Murtha said. "To show they've really changed, they have to get rid of somebody."

...

"Every single wounded person I met at Bethesda or Walter Reed after Afghanistan and Iraq said, 'If I had had Kevlar, this wouldn't have happened to me,' " Murtha said. He cited other shortages of equipment that also contributed to U.S. casualties.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A7368-2003Sep26¬Found=true

[SKKY]

20. OK, let me clarify something...

...I was speaking directly to the politicians who are using this episode in Kuwait to earn personal/political cool points. I was not directing this to anyone in this forum. Damn! Can't a Sailor vent anymore?

[Trajan]

6. This attack is so righteous ...

It is spot on honest and get's to the heart of the matter ...

George Bush and his cronies wanted their billions of dollars, and they GOT their billions of dollars ....

It was up to Rumsfeld to task his Pentagon to draw up the plans and settle the logistics for their volitional action in Iraq ....

ANYONE who said they needed MORE troops or MORE material for this action than that recommended by Richard 'Let's make a buck on this' Perle, Paul 'We will be welcomed as saviors' Wolfowitz, and Ken 'It will be a Cakewalk' Adelmen, was JETTISONED by the DoD Leadership ....

We all make choices in life: The Neocon ASSHOLES made their choices when they chucked Shinseki and other rational generals like him over the gunwales, even though their hypothetical scenarios better resembled the actual results, and CERTAINLY were more prescient and sage than the PNAC assholes ....

Funny how now: they are praising those who were WRONG, and STILL purging those who were right ....

Rumsfeld should be pilloried for his miscalculations, and his continuing lies to the american people AND the soldiers entrusted to his care ....

[koopie57]

10. I have read these prior posts

and while I agree, I am glad to see them busting someone's chops in this administration. I'm hoping to see a snowball effect where little by little the media puts their anger out there and they start to become more vocal and each day a few more people understand this is a bad and evil administration. We are playing against a very formidable opponent with many weapons at its disposal. Fighting crooked voting machines, a spoon fed media .. Right now I'm happy to see each victory, small as it may be.

on edit: This took me a long time to write and now there are posts that I wholeheartedly agree with.

[Free2BMe]

21. Even Republicans are on board with his need to be OUT!

Even David Brooks on Lehrer News Hour said...probably not now..but look to March or April for a change...

[lumpy]

25. I miss a leader with guts, Harry Truman.

He wouldn't have hired and sure as hell would have fired an incompetent such as Rumsfeld.

[Free2BMe]

28. yea, he was a good one...I was 8 when he whipped dewey..thank God

[Seabiscuit]

26. I found a similar story here:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DEMOCRATS_ARMOR?SITE=CADIU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I particularly like the three paragraphs quoted below (although I'd like to quote more, it's verboten):

Dems want answers from Rumsfeld on armor

By MAURA KELLY LANNAN
Associated Press Writer

"We can, and we should, armor every Humvee and every truck our troops use in Iraq and Afghanistan," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in his party's weekly radio address. "No more excuses, no more delays. We can save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of serious injuries."

Congress has given the Bush administration all the defense spending it has requested, yet there are still 3,500 Humvees without protective armor and about 44,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan without adequate body armor, Durbin said.

"The Pentagon says the lack of protective equipment is a matter of 'logistics,'" Durbin said. "No, it's not. It's a matter of leadership."

Kudos to Senator Durbin. We need more Democratic Senators and Representatives to speak out like this.

Which reminds me... what Cheneyesque secret location has John Kerry been hiding out in since November 3??? Why hasn't he spoken out about this problem? I just told my wife about this article and she blurted out: "John Kerry's a fuckin' wimp. I'm beginning to think he's a plant." I responded: "you mean, like a Shrub?" She just laughed.

[PDX Bara]

27. Mistakes in Iraq

Why is any of this a surprise when this country and the war are being run by a bunch of cowards who disappeared from National Guard duty, had "other priorities" or had any number of other excuses for not serving their country. They then send our troops who do keep their commitments without the necessary protective equipment and who knows what else. These people give cowardice a really bad name...