The Latest Body Armor News

I realize that the majority in this country who now want the troops home, or the majority that disapprove of Bush and his handling of the Iraq war, hate America more than anyone else, and that those who never wanted the troops in Iraq in the first place should take most of the blame for getting them killed now that we’re there. (***Editor’s Note: Once in a while, try doing the exercise that I just did above. Write down the exact position Bush supporters are advocating, including their logic and reason for that position, and then read what you just wrote. It’s truly the only way to appreciate how fucking delusional Bush supporters are***).

However, it should be noted that the Pentagon’s latest position on body armor should at least catch a sliver of the blame, but first a little refresher.

When we first heard of the body armor issue, embedded members of the liberal media were reporting on entire battalions who had to search through scrap metal and other trash in Iraq to literally duct tape, rope or bolt on to their poorly armored humvees, as IED’s were blowing the crap out of the vehicles that didn’t receive the armor (hence coining the term “hillbilly armor.”) By doing this, the liberal media and their viewers, both of which who hate the troops, cast the spotlight on a huge problem which in turn put pressure on the government to fix.

Compounding this issue was troop-hater Spec. Thomas Wilson of the Tennessee Army National Guard, who asked Rumsfield during an open Q&A back in the winter of ’04: "Now why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles, and why don't we have those resources readily available to us?"

This drew loud applause and cheers from the other 2,300 troops in attendance, who also apparently despise the troops.

To which Rumsfeld replied: "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time," which is politician speak for "tough shit." Rumsfeld has 3 yellow ribbon magnets on his Lexus, so statements like this are totally fine.

This brought critical attention to the issue, and pretty soon everyone was hating the troops by raising money to buy them the armor the Pentagon refused to supply, and that the tax cuts for the top% couldn’t fund. Parents were spending over $1,000 in some cases to protect the kids for which they weren’t supporting.

Well, liberals such those over at Americablog loathed the troops so much, blog founder John Aravosis organized a fundraiser to help injured soldier 1st Lt. William Eddie Rebrook with the body armor the Pentagon forced him to pay for after he was injured in battle and it was removed from his body to help save his life. They despised troops like this so much, the liberal readers raised $5,000 to help pay for the money the troop-supporting Bush administration was demanding from Rebrook. (It should be noted that troop-supporter Rush Limbaugh had a different strategy for donating to the troops.)

Especially after reading stories like this, all kinds of armor donations started pouring in – some of which are not sufficient or too heavy for the troops to want to even wear, the Pentagon has decided to solve the problem (from the LA Times):

Soldiers will no longer be allowed to wear body armor that was not issued by the military, Army officials said Thursday. Nathaniel R. Helms, editor of the Soldiers for the Truth online magazine DefenseWatch, said he already had received a number of e-mails from soldiers complaining about the policy.

"Outrageously we've seen that [soldiers] haven't been getting what they need in terms of equipment and body armor," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who
wrote legislation to provide reimbursement to troops for equipment purchases.

"That's totally unacceptable, and why this directive by the Pentagon needs to be scrutinized in much greater detail."

The justification is that the donated armor isn’t of the highest quality – you know, as opposed to not having any at all. I guess if the liberals never complained that the troops weren’t getting the protection they needed, we wouldn’t have a surplus of poor quality armor in the first place, now would we?