"Urgent Request for the Basic Necessities of War."

[aquart]

No sheets for our wounded. NO SHEETS. The families are sending them.

Two-way radios. Batteries for night vision goggles.

A soldier on leave bought a green camouflage uniform. His mother sends WD-40 to lubricate his gun.

Christopher Dodd got Senate approval for the Pentagon to reimburse any out of pocket soldier.

The army says it is unaware of any critical shortages.

Did we not appropropriate the money for these things? Were not private contractors supposed to supply these things?

This was on ABC.

[Carolab]

1. I say we tell our congresspeople and senators

NO MORE MONEY UNTIL THEY FIGURE OUT WHERE THE REST OF IT HAS GONE.

SPECIFICALLY, HALLIBURTON!!

[aquart]

2. I say we reconstitute the quartermaster corps.

Immediately.

[htuttle]

15. Beef up the Army Corps of Engineers, too

And bring back the SeeBees! And the Army cooks!

All of these guys do a much, much better job than those private contractors. Plus they can be counted on to not leave their fellow soldiers in the lurch with no shelter, ammo or fresh water.

WAY cheaper, too!

[JHB]

19. But...but...but...

...THOSE GUYS don't make campaign donations!

[JHB]

18. Or at least set up a few sutler's tents

Sheesh!

[donsu]

21. agree - our troops would take better care of themselves then Halliburton

does. and agree about the Engineer corp. too

[clover]

3. our neighbor works 3 nights at wal-mart, in addition to

her full-time job to provide for her son in iraq. she sends him soap, aspirin, first-aid kits, sheets, and AND money for the on-base laundromat where the troops do their own laundry. he was issued 3 sets of underwear w/ no replacements & only regulation brown t-shirts are allowed, so she thought she'd send him some from wal-mart, but they don't stock them anymore--not since the war began--so her son has to spend $12 each at the commissary for the same t-shirts that once were 3/$10 at wal-mart stateside. he recently requested that she send him antibiotic ointment and band-aids.

[patrice]

4. OMG! This is horrible. I had heard "nickle and dime" , . . . .

but I had no idea!!!

It must be hard for the soldiers to be around well paid civilian contractors.

[clover]

5. it's old-timey war profiteering, but more blatant than in the past (nt)

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. How about we set up a well publicized DU bake sale

showing that 20 cookies will buy WD-40 and so on. This kind of neglect needs to be brought out in the open in a big way.

[bpilgrim]

7. we've been thinking of setting up an online donation site

where folks can donate any amount and we would use the money to buy supplies - we were thinking flak jackets - and give folks a sticker of a flak jacket to put on their cars to show they truly support our troops.

I have another webmaster/designer who is willing to help but we would need others to work the logistics, accounting and promotion.

if anyone is interested in this project please pm me.

peace

[clover]

9. would you consider posting info on the activism/events thread?

i think this would grow into something important very quickly.

[bpilgrim]

10. yes

i will post something now to get the ball rolling.

peace

[bpilgrim]

11. Activism/Events ---------------------------------------> LINK

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x11739

peace

[LeftyMom]

8. That's a great idea!

I baked for MoveOn earlier this year and I'd gladly do the same for this cause. It'd be good publicity in answer to the "liberals don't supourt the troops" meme as well.

If somebody in Sacramento volunteers thier place (I have no yard) I'll bring tables, chairs, a cooler and tons of cookies, pumpkin brad and zucchini bread. All vegan, natch. :)

[crickets]

12. ATTN: Any Soldier was mentioned on Air America recently

This sounds like a wonderful information source that helps well-meaning people find out what to send and where. I'm getting together a care package to send. It drives me nuts that billions of dollars are flying around, but the necessities are not reaching the soldiers. It's not right.

http://www.anysoldier.us/index.cfm

"We provide soldier contacts on the Where to Send page. Read through the names and select the ones you wish to support. They list what they need and want, we even have a search capability so you can easily identify what units need.

"The soldiers are volunteers for this effort, they see the 'ATTN: Any Soldier' line and put your letters and packages into the hands of soldiers who don't get much or any mail.

"We also have What to Send and How to Send pages to help you properly send letters and packages, and a FAQ page, please read these. This effort is 110% voluntary. You send your support, and maybe some stuff, directly to whatever unit or units you want, you don't send us anything. PLEASE read the entire web site before you send anything, we want you to be informed and comfortable with this effort as many people are."

[bpilgrim]

13. kick

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x11739

psst... pass the word

peace

[bpilgrim]

14. kick

peace

[Eloriel]

16. Fabulous idea -- thanks so much, bpilgrim

:kick:

[bpilgrim]

20. thanks Eloriel

:loveya:

I'll keep you posted on our progress :hi:

peace

[leftofthedial]

17. multibillion dollar no bid contracts

were suppoed to supply all this kind of stuff