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Politics : Is Secession Doable? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (1755)	12/9/2004 10:33:24 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1968

Improvised armor additions are nothing new to armies in general or to the US army. Since the war started the plants producing the armor have started running flat out, but Rumsfeld is right you go to war with what you have, and you will never have absolute perfect distribution of the best of all types of equipment. There will be shortages of one thing or another, often important things. Thats life. Even the US doesn't have an infinite military budget. Stop making excuses for these incompetents. The war has been going for almost two years. I own the stock to one of the companies producing the armor. They have more than enough capacity to produce more. Please don't tell me that we don't have enough money. Reduce the tax cuts. Stop the pork! The truth is the incompetents don't much care about human lives. They have bigger fish to fry.........like oil pipelines.

To: TimF who wrote (1755)	12/9/2004 10:36:58 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1968

Controversy Continues Over Rumsfeld Armor Question Dec. 9 (AP) — Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is taking fire for the statement he made about getting armor to the troops in Iraq. Rumsfeld told a National Guard soldier that the U.S. was supplying armor as fast as it can be made. But ABC7 political reporter Mark Matthews talked with companies making the armor and heard a different story. The company that makes armored Humvees says they've already offered to increase production and that it wouldn't cost them any extra. That's something Donald Rumsfeld denied yesterday in talking with National Guard troops in Kuwait. Inadequate armor for the troops and their vehicles in Iraq has been an issue for more than a year. At first the Secretary of Defense denied it was a problem. Then yesterday Rumsfeld told National Guard soldiers the Army is trying to solve the problem as fast as it can. Donald Rumsfeld: "It's essentially a matter of physics. It isn't a matter of money, it isn't a matter on the part of the Army of desire. It's a matter of production and capability of doing it." And today the President backed him up. President Bush: "I've told many families I've met with we're doing everything we can to protect your loved ones in a mission that is vital and important." But the Florida company that makes the armor plating both for the Humvees and the Army's bullet proof vests says it told the Pentagon several times it could easily increase production by 22 percent. That's 50 to 100 extra Humvees every month, but so far the Army hasn't responded. And a Sacramento company that provides steel panel for door panels told ABC7 they could make more and that it's just a matter of money. The Sierra Army Depot, assembling the Humvee kits, could increase production by 150 percent. General Paul Monroe retired this year as head of the California's National Guard. Gen. Paul Monroe, California National Guard, retired: "Ultimately it's a matter of money." So far the ultimate price has been paid by more than 190 American soldiers killed in unarmored Humvees. More than half the Humvees are without armor so soldiers are welding on pieces of scrap metal. Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher says it's the fault of the administration's planning. Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D), Walnut Creek: "They didn't expect to find RPG's hitting our soldiers. They thought they'd be pelted with roses and victory parades soon after the end of the Saddam Hussein government." continued................. abclocal.go.com