Stephany Kern: Please Don't Make My Grandchildren Pay for the War That Killed Their Father

[marmar]

from CommonDreams:

Please Don't Make My Grandchildren Pay for the War That Killed Their Father
by Stephany Kern

The Bush Administration wants us to give more of our precious human resources as well as more of our money to the war in Iraq. Coming from a military family, I do not want any soldiers to be without what they need, but in order to fully understand the problem, I realized I had to look beneath the simplistic cover the administration uses for its reasoning of asking for more.

In order to look objectively at this request for more money I decided to review for myself how the administration has dealt with one basic safety need the troops on the ground have had. Armor for the vehicles sent to Iraq. Guess what? It's still a problem.

Why are the vehicles we send to Iraq still unarmored? After reading much about this issue I had to conclude that the administration and Pentagon have never looked at this issue as a mistake. My common sense tells me you don't send soldiers into a war like this without basic protection for their vehicles. The Pentagon callously did not see this as a significant issue. As a matter of fact, the idea that this was a mistake was dismissed with an off handed remark by Rumsfeld which I am sure we all remember all too well. Thankfully, the story was picked up by a few Congress women and men and the media and there was an effort to correct the problem.

The Pentagon and the administration has had four long years to fix this outrageous negligence and have they made this a priority? No. They seem to have the attitude that our greatest military resource: our soldiers, our son's and daughter's lives are not valuable enough, not worthy enough, to invest and provide proper protection. I can only deduce from this lack of action by the administration and the Pentagon, and from their attitude, that providing troops on the ground with proper equipment is not a priority. ....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0213-30.htm

[Ilsa]

1. Well, Dumbya's grandkids will have to help pay

for the war that ruined his legacy for the next thousand years (if the US lasts that long). I bet his grandkids will avoid claiming him as their grandfather, too. At least Ms. Kern's progeny can be proud. And sad. And poor. And other things I can't imagine at this moment.

I don't know what to call my comments -- sarcasm? honesty? I can't imagine any more anger than asking someone to pay for what killed their loved one. God Bless her and the other 3,100 families doing the same.