I can't believe this bozo still has a job. I guess he's never made a mistake either. Freedom is on the march!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/08/rumsfeld.troops.ap/index.html

I can't believe this bozo still has a job. I guess he's never made a mistake either. Freedom is on the march!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/08/rumsfeld.troops.ap/index.html

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (AP) -- After delivering a pep talk designed to energize troops preparing to head for Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld got a little "talking to" himself from disgruntled soldiers.

In his prepared remarks, Rumsfeld urged the troops -- mostly National Guard and Reserve soldiers -- to discount critics of the war in Iraq and to help "win the test of wills" with the insurgents.

Some of soldiers, however, had criticisms of their own -- not of the war itself but of how it is being fought.

Army Spc. Thomas Wilson, for example, of the 278th Regimental Combat Team that is comprised mainly of citizen soldiers of the Tennessee Army National Guard, asked Rumsfeld in a question-and-answer session why vehicle armor is still in short supply, nearly three years after the war in Iraq.

"Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?" Wilson asked. A big cheer arose from the approximately 2,300 soldiers in the cavernous hangar who assembled to see and hear the secretary of defense.

Rumsfeld hesitated and asked Wilson to repeat his question.

"We do not have proper armored vehicles to carry with us north," Wilson said after asking again.

Rumsfeld replied that, "You go to war with the Army you have," not the one you might want, and that any rate the Army was pushing manufacturers of vehicle armor to produce it as fast as humanly possible.

And, the defense chief added, armor is not always a savior in the kind of combat U.S. troops face in Iraq, where the insurgents' weapon of choice is the roadside bomb, or improvised explosive device.

"You can have all the armor in the world on a tank and it can (still) be blown up," Rumsfeld said.

Asked later about Wilson's complaint, the deputy commanding general of U.S. forces in Kuwait, Maj. Gen. Gary Speer, said in an interview that as far as he knows, every vehicle that is deploying to Iraq from Camp Buehring in Kuwait has at least "Level 3" armor. That means it at least has locally fabricated armor for its side panels, but not necessarily bulletproof windows or protection against explosions that penetrate the floorboard.

Speer said he was not aware that soldiers were searching landfills for scrap mental and used bulletproof glass.

During the question-and-answer session, another soldier complained that active-duty Army units sometimes get priority over the National Guard and Reserve units for the best equipment in Iraq.

"There's no way I can prove it, but I am told the Army is breaking its neck to see that there is not" discrimination against the National Guard and Reserve in terms of providing equipment, Rumsfeld said.

Yet another soldier asked, without putting it to Rumsfeld as a direct criticism, how much longer the Army will continue using its "stop loss" power to prevent soldiers from leaving the service who are otherwise eligible to retire or quit.

Rumsfeld said that this condition was simply a fact of life for soldiers at time of war.

"It's basically a sound principle, it's nothing new, it's been well understood" by soldiers, he said. "My guess is it will continue to be used as little as possible, but that it will continue to be used."

In his opening remarks, Rumsfeld stressed that soldiers who are heading to Iraq should not believe those who say the insurgents cannot be defeated or who otherwise doubt the will of the military to win.

"They say we can't prevail. I see that violence and say we must win," Rumsfeld said.

unless they are still alive after their tour.

MEMO - SECRET

FROM: D. RUMSFELD
TO: COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES, IRAQ
RE: POST PEP TALK TROOP REASSIGNMENTS

(What was your name again?),

At no time during future pep talks, will you allow negative questions or comments to be voiced by any soldier under your command. As for those who questioned my policies, you will immediately reassign them to the most dangerous post possible (where ever that may be) and reduce their ammunition allotment to one (1) bullet per day, and reallocate their body armor to troops who actually deserve it.

I can't believe this bozo still has a job. I guess he's never made a mistake either. Freedom is on the march!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/08/rumsfeld.troops.ap/index.html
They guy has balls to say this: "...And, the defense chief added, armor is not always a savior in the kind of combat U.S. troops face in Iraq"

Don't worry kiddies. You don't need armor. Just keep fighting. Does he think they are morons?

from the sound of his comments, their complaints didn't seem to have too much of an impact on him.

edit: it's easy to have a great big pair of balls when he's not the one facing those roadside bombs over there.

edit: it's easy to have a great big pair of balls when he's not the one facing those roadside bombs over there.
And how does he know that you don't really need armor if he's never fought himself? Masters of War revisited.

See my post, "BBC documentary, "The Power of Nightmares"'.

They guy has balls to say this: "...And, the defense chief added, armor is not always a savior in the kind of combat U.S. troops face in Iraq"

Don't worry kiddies. You don't need armor. Just keep fighting. Does he think they are morons?.....

I can't believe this bozo still has a job. I guess he's never made a mistake either. Freedom is on the march!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/08/rumsfeld.troops.ap/index.html

What do you think is going to happen when you have 30-something, weekend warriors who never thought they'd see this kind of thing when they signed up doing the fighting?

Where are all the new soldiers, hasn't there been a flood of new recruits in this time of national need?

It was interesting to read how Pat Tillman actually died. The contrast from the Army's initial glorious spin was pretty stark. His death was tragic, and it's sad that the Army felt the need to morph it into another Hallmark PR moment. When will the Army learn to just tell the truth?

So it raises a couple other questions...
(1) Where do you think the initial Myth of Pat Tillman came from?
a: An eager Army PR Captain
b: An eager Army star at the Pentagon
c: An eager Pentagon politico (Choose the politco for extra credit)
d: A politico outside the Pentagon (Choose the politco for extra credit)

(2) If the death of one man has to be morphed into a mythic lie, how truthful is the millitary about bigger issues in Afgahnistan and Iraq?

a. 0-25% truthful
b. 26%-50% truthful
c. 51%-75% truthful
d. 76%-100% truthful

My answers are 1 (c)[below Rummy] and 2 (c) [low end of the range].

It was interesting to read how Pat Tillman actually died. The contrast from the Army's initial glorious spin was pretty stark. His death was tragic, and it's sad that the Army felt the need to morph it into another Hallmark PR moment. When will the Army learn to just tell the truth?

So it raises a couple other questions...
(1) Where do you think the initial Myth of Pat Tillman came from?
a: An eager Army PR Captain
b: An eager Army star at the Pentagon
c: An eager Pentagon politico (Choose the politco for extra credit)
d: A politico outside the Pentagon (Choose the politco for extra credit)

(2) If the death of one man has to be morphed into a mythic lie, how truthful is the millitary about bigger issues in Afgahnistan and Iraq?

a. 0-25% truthful
b. 26%-50% truthful
c. 51%-75% truthful
d. 76%-100% truthful

My answers are 1 (c)[below Rummy] and 2 (c) [low end of the range].
This is an interesting Blog to get an alternative take on the war:

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/

I'd say d and a...

This is an interesting Blog to get an alternative take on the war:

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/

This guy's blog, <a href="http://cbftw.blogspot.com/"> My War<a/> was also a pretty good read over its first 2-3 months - before he was reined in by his commanders

[it's what you get when you have a bunch of rich, PU$$Y chickenhawks calling the shots.
combine this with his machine signed KIA letters, the plan to cut VA hospitals and I hope all those Pub Military Men are second guessing this Admin's dedication to the Fighting Person.

This lady served what she thought was her obligation to the Army and not she gets called up. Has a 3 year old daughter even. Looks like the backdoor draft is alive and well.

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=b10f34ad-0abe-421a-00cf-ca9b8f82ac28&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

I can't believe this bozo still has a job. I guess he's never made a mistake either. Freedom is on the march!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/08/rumsfeld.troops.ap/index.html

The NYTimes story included this paragraph.
"Mr. Rumsfeld seemed taken aback by the question and a murmur began spreading through the ranks before he silenced it. "Now, settle down, settle down," he said. "Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here."

It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where uncle Leo shoplifts. Leo says he can get away with it by playing on the shops sympathy. He says,
"I'm an old man. I was confused!"

It seems some dirty terrorists has struck right here at home. They've managed to infect this boards neocons with a case of mass laryngitis, rendering them silent.

It seems some dirty terrorists has struck right here at home. They've managed to infect this boards neocons with a case of mass laryngitis, rendering them silent.

Because they have no reasonable justifications to defend their Neo's current dictates without pissing on their own feet.

Because they have no reasonable justifications to defend their Neo's current dictates without pissing on their own feet.

Gee, I never said they had to defend anything. I'm giving them an open invitation to simply comment on it. They can say they think Rummy gave a good answer, or they can say Rummy's reply didn't cut it.
If they agree that the soldiers are insufficiently equipped, here's their chance to go beyond the yellow car ornaments and SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.

[it's what you get when you have a bunch of rich, PU$$Y chickenhawks calling the shots.
combine this with his machine signed KIA letters, the plan to cut VA hospitals and I hope all those Pub Military Men are second guessing this Admin's dedication to the Fighting Person.

Many of those commanders got fragged in Nam.

Gee, I never said they had to defend anything. I'm giving them an open invitation to simply comment on it. They can say they think Rummy gave a good answer, or they can say Rummy's reply didn't cut it.
If they agree that the soldiers are insufficiently equipped, here's their chance to go beyond the yellow car ornaments and SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.
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Bible re-edit of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
"Blessed are the war Mongers....."