Home > Rumsfeld Attempts to Respond to Troop Concerns

Rumsfeld Attempts to Respond to Troop Concerns

by Open-Publishing - Thursday 9 December 2004
24 comments

Edito Wars and conflicts International USA


by Tabassum Zakaria

NEW DELHI, India - Under fire from troops who complain they are being sent to
war in Iraq with inadequate gear, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld promised
Thursday that more would be done to protect forces.

Responding to criticism from troops a day earlier, Rumsfeld also said steps were
being taken to deal with explosive devices, a lead cause of death among U.S.
forces in Iraq, where more than 1,000 soldiers have been killed in action.

Teams in Washington have been working for months on how to protect forces from roadside bombs and similar explosives, he said. As the military adjusts to changing tactics of the insurgency, it requires different types of equipment and approaches, the defense secretary added.

"It doesn’t happen instantaneously, but it has been happening pretty rapidly," Rumsfeld told reporters during a visit to India at the end of a trip that earlier took him to Afghanistan for the swearing-in of President Hamid Karzai.

Rumsfeld was bombarded Wednesday with criticism from U.S. soldiers based in Kuwait, one of whom complained U.S. forces were forced to dig up scrap metal to protect their vehicles in Iraq because of a shortage of armored ones.

"I don’t know what the facts are but somebody’s certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know, and that’s a good thing. I think it’s a very constructive exchange," Rumsfeld said of the questioner.

Regina Wilson, the former wife of the soldier who asked the question about armored vehicles, said she was not surprised by her ex-husband’s public exchange.

"Anybody that knows him knows that he would never say anything unless he had the facts to back it up. He obviously feels strongly enough about the issue to bring it to somebody so high in the command," Wilson told ABC’s "Good Morning America" show.

REALITY CHECK

A former platoon leader in Iraq and founder of an advocacy group for troops called Operation Truth said Rumsfeld’s comments in Kuwait showed he was out of touch with reality.

"Mr. Rumsfeld really doesn’t understand the reality on the ground that the troops are facing," said Paul Rieckhoff.

"All he keeps giving us is excuses. We don’t want excuses, we want solutions," he added.

Late night comedians have seized on the issue as well, and comic Jay Leno poked fun at Rumsfeld for saying that armor did not always provide protection. "Then he got in his armored car and left," said Leno to laughs from the audience.

The Army has acknowledged problems in supplying sufficient numbers of the armored Humvee, a light vehicle that without extra armor can be especially vulnerable to attacks by insurgents using roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

In the Central Command region that covers Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, there are 19,389 Humvees of which 14,960 have either had extra armor added or armor added on and there are about 450 new armored Humvees being produced a month for the Army, said Pentagon spokesman Eric Ruff.

"Depending on the purpose that a vehicle’s going to be used for, the military makes judgments about what types of vehicles with what types of armor should be used. They have priority lists in terms of the pace at which they’re adding armor," said Rumsfeld on the issue.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51481-2004Dec9.html

Forum posts

  • You failed to mention the fact that Mr. Rumsfeld told these same troops to ’stop your whining’. Let me put this in perspective: Men and women who daily place their lives on the line for their country under some of the most stressful circumstances any one could tolerate, (far more stressful than anything Mr.Rumsfeld has had to endure in his entire life I dare say) and merely because they expressed what I would consider very legitimate complaints about their tour of duty, allowed this man to treat them like a bunch of spoiled children, displaying to the entire world his lack of appreciation for the real people who are carrying the weight of his policies.

    As a veteran of the US Army I find his behavior appalling to say the least. I also find that the lack of criticism from both mainstream media and the more conservative outlets about this man’s open lack of respect for the fighting American very disturbing. The least they could do is ask for a reprimand from the President or an open apology from this man. But I don’t think that would be enough. I call for real action. I say the President should ask for this unfeeling, arrogant and pompous man’s immediate resignation. It has been this man who pushed for this war since our entry into Afghanistan, twisting our intelligence reports to make this war possible, lambasting and even removing any experienced officer who disagreed with him.

    How many fighting men & women now believe that their Secretary of Defense, second only to their Commander-in-Chief, is on their side when they hear him speaking to one of their own with such little respect? Does this man understand the meaning of morale? Maybe Mr. Rumsfeld needs to take a trip up to Fallujah or Mosul in a poorly armed, jerry-rigged Humvee to understand what that means.

    • Sorry, but who should pay any I make it clear: any respect to your troops.

      I don’t respect American troops, because

      ...they murder Iraqi civilian
      ...they used gas in Fallujah
      ...they tortured an humilated Muslim Arabs
      ...they think the doing good in Iraq by wiping out the Iraqi and destroy their country

      ...they murdered and killed in numerous wars: Korea, Vietnam, etc..

      ...they don’t imprison their American leadership Bush/Rumsfeld ...(similar to: Hitler/Göring)

      Soldier it’s time to come to sense!

    • The really appalling thing about Rumsfeld is that he comes breezing in and insults and demeans the troops and then he hops back on a cushy airplane and goes home to his mansion and luxuriates in his monied lifestyle and leaves these poor soldiers to "fend" for themselves. This more than anything I have ever seen highlights how corrupt and shallow this administration is, they could give a shit less about anyone but themselves. They are the lowest form of human.

    • Our soldiers should be respected.

      They aren’t murdering Iraqi civilians, they are building schools and fighting the people who murder the Iraqis.
      The only gas they used in Fallujah is the type you put in vehicles.
      Any torture that happened was isolated. As far as humiliation, maybe you’d prefer if we cut off heads? Guess you haven’t seen what was going on in Fallujah.
      About 5-10 thousand insurgents are trying to keep 25 million Iraqis hostage.
      American troops behave at least as honourably as other nation’s troops.
      The military can’t imprison our democratically elected leaders- we have the world’s longest running democracy.

      Rumsfeld needs to respect our troops more. Most of the dozen or so people on this site don’t care about the health or safety of the US troops anyways.

    • Don’t believe the propagnada from our PRAVDA, we are not building schools or hospitals or roads or anything else we have destroyed. The "reconstruction" money was reallocated to "security" that much was announced in PRAVDA. There is no money. hell there isn’t even enough money to provide US soldiers with hazard pay, or armour, or V.A. benefits, our country is broke, we have squandered even the soical security money on this immoral war of Bush’s. But the hoodwinked citizens here, that would be you, aren’t smart enough to put tow and tow together thanks to the government education they received.

    • Have you seen that photo of Rumsfeld smiling with Saddam over another arms deal, circa 1987 ? -which is one of the reasons Saddams trial has been put off until the end of next year. If he received a fair trial and was able to call witnesses, Rumsfeld would be right up there as one of his former buddies. He is now up to his neck in Iraqi civilians and US soldiers blood and he is so arrogant about it. He’s tried to cultivate the avuncular persona, but now even the troops can see right through it, and that he’s an outright baby killer.

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    someone needs to explain this to the troops: this man in charge of the war- he’s a complete moron. Why is a fool like this in control of thousands of lives?

    To the young troops: you are smarter than this old fool. I sure wouldn’t put my life in his hands.

  • It’s the libs that are morons and continue to be morons. You guys were the ones who wanted to pull the army out of Iraq and predicting all sorts of dire consequences. Kerry and his sidekick Edwards voted against the supplement that would have given the soldiers the necessary body armor, and it’s the dumb libs who continue to vote against research and improvements for the military. Now they are yelling about the fact that soldiers are going to war without the necessary equipment?! WELL DUH! Of course there is no recognition by the moronic libs of the change in circumstances. It has become urban warfare and not regular warfare, speedy humvees that were an advantage a year ago is a disadvantage in the current circumstances. It takes time to produce all these vehicles and new gear but do moronic libs take that into account? NO! And your concern for soldiers is so fake, you guys were comparing our soldiers to nazis. It’s amazing that you guys don’t choke on your own bile.

    • you are a disinformation unintelligent officer ... a plant to keep putting down real coherent conversation and exchange of opinions and ideas ... you never say anything

    • That poster said the truth, you just refuse to recognize it because you’re a stupid lib.

    • ...brain washed republicans. Guess you think wiping out the Iraqi civilians is God’s work.

      You make us sick!

    • Why isn’t the average Republican able to see what a dumb shit Bush is. When you call posters here morons you imply that you know what a moron is. Then you cheer for that dumb shit Bush like he has a brain, that is funny. Its one thing to call a poster here a moron, but to actually admit that you support a dumb shit for a president is incredible. Do you really think our country should have a dumb shit for the president? Because having a Dumb Shit for a president is really embarrassing. Its really hard to explain to people in other countries how we have elected a Dumb Shit as the leader of our country. Can you explain that for us since you claim to know all about morons what is the difference between a moron and a Dumb Shit?

    • Here we go again, a sorry, stupid , brainwashed republican trying to blame the Liberals for all the problems in Iraq. The military received that $ 87 billion so don’t use that as an excuse for this administration’s failures. You fucking repubs make me wonder do you really love this country and our soldiers like you claim. You Nazi bastards are not patriotic, you are all about following and defending this incompetent, and no good administration regardless of the facts. Those warmongers rushed into that war, it was a war of choice at a time they chose, they should have a least waited until they had the proper equipment and proper troop strength in place.

      But it doesn’t really matter what kind of equipment you put over there, the war is immoral and it will be very difficult for our soldiers to win an immoral war, their not over there fighting because it’s morally correct, their over there torturing and killing for a pay check. Personally I don’t feel the soldiers are over there fighting for me or this country, I feel this is King George’s war and they are fighting for him and the Neocon thugs. Most of the Military voted for Bush anyway they seem to idolize him so they shouldn’t get upset if he abuses them a little bit.

    • Couldn’t tell from your post. Do you think Bush is a dumb shit?

      I looked up moron on dictionary.com and found a link to your post.

    • I bet you hate cops too.

    • Republicans don’t want to wipe out Iraqi civilians. They want Iraqi civilians to take responsiblity for their country and have an opportunity to make good lives for their families.

      We’re not in Iraq because we want to colonize or own it. We’re in Iraq to get democracy going in the middle east so that they can export products instead of hate and intolerance.

    • Bullshit, you Republicans allowed Hitler II to go in there and kill the Iraqi citizens without even counting the dead, destroy their homes and culture and YOU sat on the sidelines cheering. You’re a liar, you love seeing these people suffer.
      Why should the Iraqis have to pick up the pieces of their homes and lives and children and try to rectify what "we" have done there. You say "we" want them to take responsibility, how is what "we" have done there their responsibility? How are they to blame for what "we" have done there? "We" have raped them and now YOU want to say its their responsibility to make it all right. You must be a Christian.

    • Armor Holdings Inc possesses the army contract to supply the troops with armor for Humvees and body protection. http://www.armorholdings.com/new/news/2004...rmorhumvees.pdf
      As this article outlines, AHI was founded in 1996. It has become the premier supplier of armor for the US Army via acquisition of its two main competitors. It is now the "Microsoft" of US vehicle armor protection.

      Armor Holdings gave $15,000 to the RNC in the 2002 election cycle. Specifically, the primary donor is Robert F. Mecredy, listed as the current President of Armor Holding’s Aerospace and Defense Group. Mr. Mecredy’s pedigree includes ties to other defense stalwarts like Raytheon and (you guessed it) Carlyle Group owned companies.http://www.armorholdings.com/corporate/executive_team.html

      Since FY 2000, Mecredy has also given personal contributions over $28,000 to the RNCC and Republican candidates. http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.a...t2000=Y&Order=N

      Stephen Croskey, President and CEO of Armor Holdings’ Products Division has contributed over $7500 to RNCC candidates. http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.a...t2000=Y&Order=N

      Robert Schiller, President of Armor Holdings, has given over $15k to RNCC candidates. http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.a...t2000=Y&Order=N

      Warren Kanders, Chairman of the Board and CEO, has given over $40k to RNCC candidates. (note the interesting use of different addresses and variations of his name to confuse the contribution history). http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.a...t2000=Y&Order=N

      If you are doing the math at home, that means over $100,000 in donations to Bush and the RNCC from the company and its officers who provide the armor for vehicles and troops in Iraq.

      What have these contributions given to the donors?

      First, they do have the exclusive contract. No one else is competing for the business. The Pentagon has known for 18 months that the troops did not have the armor they needed. Was there a hue and cry for more production, more vendors to build it and supply it? No, there was not.

      Next, check out the stock price for Armor Holdings from March 19, 2003 (when the invasion began) and today. On 3/19/03, the stock closed at $9.95. It closed yesterday at $42.88. That’s a 430% increase in the 21 months of the war.

      What would have happened to the stock of Armor Holdings if the Pentagon would have said, say in October of 2003, when the first story broke nationally about the lack of armor for the troops, "hey, America, we need some companies to step up and help our troops by manufacturing armor for our guys overseas. We have this one vendor, Armor Holdings, but they can’t keep up with demand". I’m not sure, but the increase in valuation would not have been 430%, for damn sure.

      Finally, check out the Annual Report for Armor Holdings. Look at the compensation for key executives. http://ccbn.mobular.net/ccbn/7/679/731/ The primary donors listed above are making a killing on the deaths of US soldiers who don’t have enough armor.

      As is the case in the Bush White House, when his rich buddies get richer, Bush is happy. Damn the rest of us.

    • Oh- by the way, the average Ford plant puts out 500 vehicles per day. The DoD was so proud when they promised to supply 450 humvees a month, and that was many many many many many many months ago.

    • You’re crazy, we liberals didn’t want the US to go to war there. It is an UNNECESSARY war and we were in the streets protesting the invasion in the millions. So you my man. and you must be a man are a transparent Bush apologist and a moron like him.

    • Have you seen that photo of Rumsfeld smiling with Saddam over another arms deal, circa 1987 ? -which is one of the reasons Saddams trial has been put off until the end of next year. If he received a fair trial and was able to call witnesses, Rumsfeld would be right up there as one of his former buddies. He is now up to his neck in Iraqi civilians and US soldiers blood and he is so arrogant about it. He’s tried to cultivate the avuncular persona, but now even the troops can see right through it, and that he’s an outright baby killer.

    • Fucking right -the only good cop is a dead one.

    • Saddam will never be tried. He knows too much about Bushco to ever be allowed to talk. They will have to arrange a suicide, or a murder by a crazed "fan" (Jack Ruby), or maybe he will have one of those fatal diseases that suddenly kills you.

    • They want to try him after they have the ’’elections’’ by an Iraqi court. The problems they have is that the judges and prosecuting counsel don’t want to be seen as they will later be killed, unless they’re spirited away to Alabama or somewhere. Secondly, the ’’court’’ is only deemed legal by Alawi and the US invaders. The war and invasion of a sovereign state that posed no threat, was internationally perceived as illegal-(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3661134.stm) He also knows too many secrets about the US administration Iran/Iraq war for example, and has Pentagon receipts for chemical weapons. But at the moment Runsfeld et al seem to be off the hook as Saddam, due to his ’medication’, is a becoming a rambling incoherent.
      I’m not defending the evil fuck, but he’s DEFINITELY no worse than Bush AND despite reports, IS NOT responsible for as many deaths.