It Figures

The Coast Guard has ships that were retrofitted so badly that they became unseaworthy and now the Marine Corps are asking for extra armor on the new vehicles that are supposed to protect them from roadside bombs, but don't. Why am I not more surprised? Have I become so used to the lying, to the incompetence, to the cronyism, to the "they really don't give a flying **** about the troops attitude"; that to find out that the "new and improved" military vehicle is incapable of stopping the IEDs used by the insurgents, is just another everyday example of the supreme stupidity that is the debacle known as Operation Iraqi Freedom?

Two and a half years ago, Donald Rumsfeld uttered the famous line of:

"As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They're not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

He added: "If you think about it, you can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can be blown up."

Whatever. Did a part of me really expect that after all this time, money, and wasted lives, that things would be different? That the military would have everything it needs because we support the troops with something besides bumper stickers and yellow ribbon magnets? Foolish me, because it turns out that this was just another ploy, another way for somebody who doesn't have our troops best interests at heart, to make money for money's sake. Seriously, if the title of your vehicle contains words like "Mine Resistant Ambush Protected", don't you think they should be able to protect against mines, plus just a little bit more? And without having to tack on extra armor? I thought we already did that and it wasn't all that successful.

What the heck is wrong with the people in charge, are they totally incapable of planning for any future besides a paradise (oops, shouldn't use that word since it seems to have come from the Persian language) that doesn't exist? Do they think the insurgents are so stupid that they wouldn't think of improvements themselves? And what the heck does "developing countermeasures" mean? Please tell me, I want to be prepared when they don't work.

Who would think that Operation Urgent Fury (the invasion of Grenada) would stand out as one of the most successful enterprises in the last fifty years of the world's largest and supposedly best financed military.

3Bs