Iraq - Oh, That's Rich

The Pentagon is dragging its feet and failing to provide military personnel in Iraq the tools that they need for their protection and safety, says this report in Raw Story:

Among many examples, the newspaper cited hesitance by US army officials to buy Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles despite eager requests from commanders in Iraq.

[...]

Faced with Pentagon heel-dragging, the US Congress boosted budgets by several billion dollars to better fund equipping troops in Iraq, USA Today said.

Lawmakers boosted by 5.2 billion dollars the budget George W. Bush's administration sought to armor Humvees used by the army in Iraq.

The USA Today report quoted Senator Joseph Biden as saying Rumsfeld "and many top administration officials believed the war would end quickly," so in their view, there was "surely no need to spend large amounts of money for equipment.

"The cost of ignoring the facts on the ground ... has been the lives and limbs of our sons and daughters," he said.

Believe me, Senator Biden, if a few more of the relatives of the wealthy powerful elite were there on the ground, you can bet your pasty ass the Pentagon would hop to it. The problem is, it's not "our sons and daughters," it's "their sons and daughters."

Stumble It!