Broken soldiers
"'We're saving more people than should be saved, probably,' Lt. Col. Robert Carroll said. 'We're saving severely injured people. Legs. Eyes. Part of the brain.'"
Via an outraged Atrios, MSNBC describes the work of the 31st Combat Support emergency hospital in Baghdad. The 31st has the lowest morale of troops stationed in Iraq. The hospital has the only neurology and ophthalmology surgical teams in Iraq, so any time there's an injury to the head or the eyes -- unprotected by body armor -- they go to the 31st.
"While waiting for what one senior officer wearily calls 'the flippin' helicopters,' the Baghdad medical staff studies photos of wounds they used to see once or twice in a military campaign but now treat every day. And they struggle with the implications of a system that can move a wounded soldier from a booby-trapped roadside to an operating room in less than an hour."
And Newsweek reports that the forces in Iraq have suffered far more casualties than "necessary" because the Bush administration and the Pentagon refuse to recognize that the troops need more armor (body armor, tanks, etc.).
"Soldiers in Iraq complain that Washington has been too slow to acknowledge that the Iraqi insurgency consists of more than 'dead-enders.' And even at the Pentagon many officers say Rumsfeld and his brass have been too reluctant to modify their long-term plans for a lighter military. On the battlefield, that has translated into a lack of armor. Perhaps the most telling example: a year ago the Pentagon had more than 400 main battle tanks in Iraq; as of recently, a senior Defense official told NEWSWEEK, there was barely a brigade's worth of operational tanks still there. (A brigade usually has about 70 tanks.)
"In continuing adherence to the Army's 'light is better' doctrine, even units recently rotated to Iraq have left most of their armor behind. These include the I Marine Expeditionary Force, which has paid dearly for that decision with an astonishing 30 percent-plus casualties (45 killed, more than 300 wounded) in Fallujah and Ar Ramadi. The Army's 1st Cavalry Division—which includes the unit in Sadr City—left five of every six of its tanks at home, and five of every six Bradleys.
"A breakdown of the casualty figures suggests that many U.S. deaths and wounds in Iraq simply did not need to occur. According to an unofficial study by a defense consultant that is now circulating through the Army, of a total of 789 Coalition deaths as of April 15 (686 of them Americans), 142 were killed by land mines or improvised explosive devices, while 48 others died in rocket-propelled-grenade attacks. Almost all those soldiers were killed while in unprotected vehicles, which means that perhaps one in four of those killed in combat in Iraq might be alive if they had had stronger armor around them, the study suggested. Thousands more who were unprotected have suffered grievous wounds, such as the loss of limbs."
Politics may be politics, but for the Bush admin. to attack Kerry for his votes to end the funding of Cold War military artifacts (votes which Cheney agreed with as Sec. of Defense at the time), while refusing to come clean with the American people regarding the true costs of this war, in terms of both blood and treasure, is simply shameful.
E.J. Dionne goes further, reprising, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?"
"It seems to be a habit. When Bush faces a Vietnam War hero in an election, a Vietnam veteran perfectly happy to trash his opponent always turns up. In the case of Ted Sampley, the same guy who did Bush's dirty work in going after Sen. John McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries is doing the job against Kerry this year. Sampley dared compare McCain, who spent five years as a Vietnam POW, with "the Manchurian Candidate." Now, Sampley says that Kerry "is not truthful and is not worthy of the support of U.S. veterans. . . . To us, he is 'Hanoi John.' " Is that where Sam Johnson got his line?
"One person who is outraged by the attacks on Kerry is McCain. When I reached the Arizona Republican, I found him deeply troubled over the reopening of wounds from the Vietnam era, 'the most divisive time since our Civil War.' He called Sampley 'one of the most despicable characters I've ever met.' McCain said he hoped that in the midst of a war in Iraq, politicians 'will confront the challenges facing us now, including the conflict we're presently engaged in, rather than refighting the one we were engaged in more than 30 years ago.'
"...Now that McCain has spoken, will Bush have the guts to endorse or condemn the attacks on Kerry's service? Or will he just sit by silently, hoping the assaults do their work while he evades responsibility? Once more, Welsh's words call out for an answer: 'Have you no sense of decency, sir?'"
Via an outraged Atrios, MSNBC describes the work of the 31st Combat Support emergency hospital in Baghdad. The 31st has the lowest morale of troops stationed in Iraq. The hospital has the only neurology and ophthalmology surgical teams in Iraq, so any time there's an injury to the head or the eyes -- unprotected by body armor -- they go to the 31st.
"While waiting for what one senior officer wearily calls 'the flippin' helicopters,' the Baghdad medical staff studies photos of wounds they used to see once or twice in a military campaign but now treat every day. And they struggle with the implications of a system that can move a wounded soldier from a booby-trapped roadside to an operating room in less than an hour."
And Newsweek reports that the forces in Iraq have suffered far more casualties than "necessary" because the Bush administration and the Pentagon refuse to recognize that the troops need more armor (body armor, tanks, etc.).
"Soldiers in Iraq complain that Washington has been too slow to acknowledge that the Iraqi insurgency consists of more than 'dead-enders.' And even at the Pentagon many officers say Rumsfeld and his brass have been too reluctant to modify their long-term plans for a lighter military. On the battlefield, that has translated into a lack of armor. Perhaps the most telling example: a year ago the Pentagon had more than 400 main battle tanks in Iraq; as of recently, a senior Defense official told NEWSWEEK, there was barely a brigade's worth of operational tanks still there. (A brigade usually has about 70 tanks.)
"In continuing adherence to the Army's 'light is better' doctrine, even units recently rotated to Iraq have left most of their armor behind. These include the I Marine Expeditionary Force, which has paid dearly for that decision with an astonishing 30 percent-plus casualties (45 killed, more than 300 wounded) in Fallujah and Ar Ramadi. The Army's 1st Cavalry Division—which includes the unit in Sadr City—left five of every six of its tanks at home, and five of every six Bradleys.
"A breakdown of the casualty figures suggests that many U.S. deaths and wounds in Iraq simply did not need to occur. According to an unofficial study by a defense consultant that is now circulating through the Army, of a total of 789 Coalition deaths as of April 15 (686 of them Americans), 142 were killed by land mines or improvised explosive devices, while 48 others died in rocket-propelled-grenade attacks. Almost all those soldiers were killed while in unprotected vehicles, which means that perhaps one in four of those killed in combat in Iraq might be alive if they had had stronger armor around them, the study suggested. Thousands more who were unprotected have suffered grievous wounds, such as the loss of limbs."
Politics may be politics, but for the Bush admin. to attack Kerry for his votes to end the funding of Cold War military artifacts (votes which Cheney agreed with as Sec. of Defense at the time), while refusing to come clean with the American people regarding the true costs of this war, in terms of both blood and treasure, is simply shameful.
E.J. Dionne goes further, reprising, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?"
"It seems to be a habit. When Bush faces a Vietnam War hero in an election, a Vietnam veteran perfectly happy to trash his opponent always turns up. In the case of Ted Sampley, the same guy who did Bush's dirty work in going after Sen. John McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries is doing the job against Kerry this year. Sampley dared compare McCain, who spent five years as a Vietnam POW, with "the Manchurian Candidate." Now, Sampley says that Kerry "is not truthful and is not worthy of the support of U.S. veterans. . . . To us, he is 'Hanoi John.' " Is that where Sam Johnson got his line?
"One person who is outraged by the attacks on Kerry is McCain. When I reached the Arizona Republican, I found him deeply troubled over the reopening of wounds from the Vietnam era, 'the most divisive time since our Civil War.' He called Sampley 'one of the most despicable characters I've ever met.' McCain said he hoped that in the midst of a war in Iraq, politicians 'will confront the challenges facing us now, including the conflict we're presently engaged in, rather than refighting the one we were engaged in more than 30 years ago.'
"...Now that McCain has spoken, will Bush have the guts to endorse or condemn the attacks on Kerry's service? Or will he just sit by silently, hoping the assaults do their work while he evades responsibility? Once more, Welsh's words call out for an answer: 'Have you no sense of decency, sir?'"
posted by John at 5:07 PM
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