FDL: Lieberman's office rebuffs soldier's request for weapons

[The Witch]

This letter from a serviceman in Afghanistan, published in a local paper and posted by Firedoglake, reveals a response by Holy Joe's office that is absolutely criminal.

As some readers may have heard, in January my battalion was issued substandard equipment for our deployment to Afghanistan. Originally, we were issued M-16s rather than M-4 carbines, rifles with shorter barrels and collapsible butt stocks. As a politcally active member of the battalion, I began to get in touch with Representative DeLauro and Representative Simmons, who both responded quickly and enthusiastically. Senator Dodd also responded quickly and gave me prompts on how to further validate my request for weapons.

owever, I did not receive a response from Senator Lieberman’s office. I continued to leave messages for both him and his military aide, now senior counselor, Fred Downey, who reprsented Sen. Lieberman at the Battalion’s send off ceremony on Jan. 4. After several messages, I finally received a return phone call. However, I was not met with the same enthusiams expressed by other legislators; I was immediately confronted with an inquisition that seemed to have the purpose of dispelling the belief that the battalion was ill equipped. Rather than listen to our specific concerns, the “benefits” of the M16 were highlighted and teh advantages of the M4 were downplayed.

Lieberman’s office left the impression that they believed we had the equipment we needed, despite the contrasting beliefs of soldiers in my battalion, some who have been on as many as five deployments. The others in Washington were not so quick to abandon us…

When my absentee ballot returns to the States next month, Lamont’s name, not Lieberman’s, will bear the check. when August 8 arrives, will you stand for the hypocrisy?

:wow: :wow:
Holy Joe has got to go.

[Kagemusha]

1. Okay, I don't get it. The M-4 is just a shortened M-16.

Since a lot of politicians have long defended the M-16 against any criticism, did the jerk arguing with the soldier even stop to think that they were discussing a shortened version of the same weapon and went into M-16 Defender Mode?...

[larrysh]

2. And I dont' understand why any soldier believes individual

battalions can pick their own weaponry. The military would be a mess if each squad, platoon, company, battalion, etc. could choose it's own weapons. I for one would have preferred the old M-14 to the M-16, but hey, I didn't get a vote. This letter sounds awfully suspicious, almost like the highly decorated US Army Ranger turned anti-war protestor (who, it turned out, had never even been in the military in the first place).....

[Kagemusha]

3. Well you're going way further than I would.

I don't see conspiracies everywhere as a rule.