Petition to demand Congressional hearings on Bush & Body Armor

[Adelante]

If you haven't read this Times article from the other day about the secret Pentagon study, please do. And then sign the petition.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/politics/07armor.html



Help get Congressional hearings started by signing this petition.

For almost three years now, tens of thousands of brave American service men and women have risked their lives in Iraq. And still, the Bush Administration has not provided our troops with the body armor they need to protect themselves.

As you know, an internal government report recently obtained by the New York Times and published in an article this past weekend confirms that "80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor."

The Times report continued, noting that "such armor has been available since 2003," but the Pentagon declined to supply it to the troops despite "calls from the field for additional protection."

More than 1700 American troops have died during in combat. And according to the Times analysis, as many as 300 deaths could have been prevented if our soldiers were equipped with the right kind of body armor -- armor that costs as little as $260 per set.

If the Bush Administration can spend hundreds of billions of dollars on high-tech weapons systems, surely they can spare a few hundred dollars per soldier to equip our troops with the body armor they need to stay safe.

Clearly, Congressional investigation is warranted. Many serious questions demand real answers:

* When were the needs for additional protection first expressed?
* Who knew what and when?
* Why weren't necessary steps taken to protect our soldiers?

The American people deserve no less than full accountability and assurances that going forward our troops will not face unnecessary risks or danger caused by lack of resources, oversight, or commitment from Washington.

I urge you to hold immediate hearings into the Bush Administration's appalling disregard for the welfare of American troops on the ground in Iraq.

Sign here: Demand body armor for our troops in Iraq

http://ga4.org/campaign/bodyarmor


LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!!

[babylonsister]

1. Done! nt

[leftstreet]

2. I want our troops redeployed instead. So does Jack Murtha

Murtha's proposal is more important

Text of Murtha's resolution
Murtha Resolution To Redeploy U.S. Forces from Iraq:
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 17, 2005

_____________________

Whereas Congress and the American People have not been shown clear, measurable progress toward establishment of stable and improving security in Iraq or of a stable and improving economy in Iraq, both of which are essential to "promote the emergence of a democratic government";

Whereas additional stabilization in Iraq by U, S. military forces cannot be achieved without the deployment of hundreds of thousands of additional U S. troops, which in turn cannot be achieved without a military draft;

Whereas more than $277 billion has been appropriated by the United States Congress to prosecute U.S. military action in Iraq and Afghanistan;

Whereas, as of the drafting of this resolution, 2,079 U.S. troops have been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom;

Whereas U.S. forces have become the target of the insurgency,

Whereas, according to recent polls, over 80% of the Iraqi people want U.S. forces out of Iraq;

Whereas polls also indicate that 45% of the Iraqi people feel that the attacks on U.S. forces are justified;

Whereas, due to the foregoing, Congress finds it evident that continuing U.S. military action in Iraq is not in the best interests of the United States of America, the people of Iraq, or the Persian Gulf Region, which were cited in Public Law 107-243 as justification for undertaking such action;

Therefore be it

I) Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in

2) Congress assembled,

3) That:

4) Section 1. The deployment of United States forces in Iraq, by direction of Congress, is

5) hereby terminated and the forces involved are to be redeployed at the earliest practicable

6) date.

7) Section 2. A quick-reaction U.S. force and an over-the-horizon presence of U.S Marines

8) shall be deployed in the region.

9) Section 3 The United States of America shall pursue security and stability in Iraq

10) through diplomacy.

The GOP version:

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces
in Iraq be terminated immediately.

[Adelante]

3. Uh, meanwhile...

Can you sign the petition? Life and death and all.

[w8liftinglady]

4. done

[Adelante]

5. Thank you nt

:kick:

[Jai4WKC08]

14. "Instead"?

INSTEAD?!

You see this as a matter of either/or?

Seems to me people who disagree about whether US troops should be withdrawn from Iraq immediately should still agree that they should be provided the best individual protection possible.

Also seems to me that any effort to hold BushCo accountable for their abuse and neglect of the troops is a good idea and worth contributing to.

Wouldn't it be nice if Sen Levin (one of the recipients of the petition) could stand up and tell the rest of the SASC, I have (fill in the blank) letters from all over the country calling for an investigation into why our troops have been denied adequate body armor, even after their commanders asked for it? Wouldn't it be nicer still if the Democrats running against Senate incumbents could say, Levin tried to get to the bottom of this and Senator (fill in the blank) voted against it?

The DNC just yesterday issued a press release from Generals Clark and Kennedy, demanding this investigation: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=59106 So Chairman Dean is in on the effort. This is an issue where all Democrats, indeed people of ANY party if they claim to support the troops, should be united in their support.

It takes just a minute or two to sign this petition. You don't even have to add your name to the WesPAC mailing list. So what possible reason could you have for saying you will only write about Murtha's proposal instead of this one?

[Crunchy Frog]

6. Done!

Thanks for posting.

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Done, even Republican parents of soldiers will be furious. Keep kicked n/t

[CarolNYC]

8. done,,,thanks n/t

[samhsarah]

9. done. n/t

[Im with Rosey]

10. Done

This needs more k&r! Let's go

[Adelante]

11. Yeah

:kick:

[incapsulated]

12. Done and kicked. n/t

[ArkySue]

13. Done!

:kick:

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. This is beyond politics. It's criminal and lives are being lost. Kick