Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Pentagon Forbids Our Troops from Using the Superior Armor They Bought for Themselves.
Why??... Money!!
'Occam's Hatchet' at The Daily Kos - reconstruction.us
In a comment thread two days ago, Margot linked to an article at Soldiers for the Truth that stated that U.S. soldiers were recently ordered not to purchase or use alternative body armor. In view of what has come to light about the shortcomings of the standard government-issue armor, I was somewhat taken aback at her comment, and read the article she linked to. I was shocked, to say the least.
The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations from a secret location, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin [body armor] and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies. The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action.
It's pretty well understood among active service personnel that the Interceptor and Second Chance body armor issued by the Pentagon for our soldiers is sorely lacking. These soldiers are the ultimate "motivated consumers" when it comes to wanting a product that works well in real-life situations. Throughout the literature, one can find many reports of the operational superiority of Dragon Skin over the government-issue Interceptor and Second Chance armors. This article in Defense Review, and this transcript of a PBS story are just two examples; a quick Googling of "dragon skin body armor" will pick up more.
So - given that the Pentagon has been incompetent enough not to provide our combat troops with the best armor available - which in and of itself is inexcusable - why in the world would the U.S. military forbid our troops from supplying themselves with the best, most life-protective gear they can find?
The answer is not as glib as Rumsfeld's callous, "You go to war with the army you have." After reading the Soldiers for the Truth article, I did what I often do when it comes to the Bush administration: I asked myself, "Whenever something totally irrational threatens the safety of U.S. citizens, what is the underlying reason?" And, of course, the answer is simple: money.
Yep, it turns out that the company that has the exclusive contract to supply body armor to the Army and Marines is home to a very heavy-hitting Republican campaign donor. Foster Friess, individually and through various family members, has contributed more than $575,000 to Republicans in the previous three campaign cycles, and has chunked in $51,000 so far for 2006.
That $88,000,000 in Armor Holdings stock held by Friess Associates LLC? Before the Iraq war began, it would have been worth about $30,000,000. No wonder he's throwing money the Republicans' way.
When isn't Republican corruption so entirely predictable??
(Editor's note ... The ultimate Bush/GOP atrocity has become even more atrocious.)
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Why??... Money!!
'Occam's Hatchet' at The Daily Kos - reconstruction.us
In a comment thread two days ago, Margot linked to an article at Soldiers for the Truth that stated that U.S. soldiers were recently ordered not to purchase or use alternative body armor. In view of what has come to light about the shortcomings of the standard government-issue armor, I was somewhat taken aback at her comment, and read the article she linked to. I was shocked, to say the least.
The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations from a secret location, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin [body armor] and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies. The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action.
It's pretty well understood among active service personnel that the Interceptor and Second Chance body armor issued by the Pentagon for our soldiers is sorely lacking. These soldiers are the ultimate "motivated consumers" when it comes to wanting a product that works well in real-life situations. Throughout the literature, one can find many reports of the operational superiority of Dragon Skin over the government-issue Interceptor and Second Chance armors. This article in Defense Review, and this transcript of a PBS story are just two examples; a quick Googling of "dragon skin body armor" will pick up more.
So - given that the Pentagon has been incompetent enough not to provide our combat troops with the best armor available - which in and of itself is inexcusable - why in the world would the U.S. military forbid our troops from supplying themselves with the best, most life-protective gear they can find?
The answer is not as glib as Rumsfeld's callous, "You go to war with the army you have." After reading the Soldiers for the Truth article, I did what I often do when it comes to the Bush administration: I asked myself, "Whenever something totally irrational threatens the safety of U.S. citizens, what is the underlying reason?" And, of course, the answer is simple: money.
Yep, it turns out that the company that has the exclusive contract to supply body armor to the Army and Marines is home to a very heavy-hitting Republican campaign donor. Foster Friess, individually and through various family members, has contributed more than $575,000 to Republicans in the previous three campaign cycles, and has chunked in $51,000 so far for 2006.
That $88,000,000 in Armor Holdings stock held by Friess Associates LLC? Before the Iraq war began, it would have been worth about $30,000,000. No wonder he's throwing money the Republicans' way.
When isn't Republican corruption so entirely predictable??
(Editor's note ... The ultimate Bush/GOP atrocity has become even more atrocious.)
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