Soldiers Scrape Up Money To Pay For Supplies

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.komotv.com/stories/28230.htm

LONGVIEW, WA - Specialist Brian Lange with the Army National Guard just spent his last weekend with his wife and two sons before mobilizing for Iraq. He and more than 3,000 soldiers from the 81st Armor Brigade are heading out on Saturday.

But instead of fun, Lange's mind was on finances all weekend.

The Lange family is trying to scrape up enough money to buy what you'd assume is paid for by the U.S. government. He needs money for supplies including a flashlight, socks, a utility belt, binoculars, sunglasses, even a pair of boots.

Lange has a pair of the basic issue boots, but soldiers in the field say they they aren't suitable.

Army National Guard members need more expensive boots, specially designed for the desert.

<snip>

I'm sorry. Who was it that isn't supporting our troops? What was that $87 Billion for?

[jpgray]

1. The bootmakers and flashlight makers are getting paid, don't worry

That's the whole point--if the troops don't actually get the supplies, no one is going to bat an eye.

Things have been that way for a loooong while in war, and especially this country's wars.

[Dhalgren]

18. Well, maybe that's a difference between Guard and Regular,

but when I was in the Army in the early 70's we were fairly well supplied - especially with the basics like boots and flashlights and stuff. Maybe it has changed since then, but this doesn't sound right.

[jpgray]

21. It's not utterly waste--I'm sure sometimes the system works

But the potential for massive profit margins often leads the government contracts to pay too much or get too little, and sometimes both at once.

[Occulus]

27. Why can't our nation

frilling ORDER corporations to supply our soldiers?

Why in the name of God can't we just MAKE THEM DO IT?

Oh, I forgot... corporations are persons under the law.

There's that pesky corporate personhood issue again! It's just amazing, the places it rears its ugly head....

[kayell]

2. Support the troops! Support the troops! Support the troops!

The next f***ing RWer who says this to me is going to receive a suggestion that they buy some boots and mail them to our troops. It seems that all our taxes that are siphoned into this war are bypassing the troops and going straight into a Halliburton vault. So nice that they kept Cheney on retainer. :eyes:


Added: maybe it would be a good idea to form a campaign to send the troops supplies for Christmas. We could position bell ringers outside stores just like the salvation army does.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Efforts are under way

check this out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=111&topic_id=10186&mesg_id=10186

[kayell]

10. I like that, but I think we need to do something more public

How many US citizens know that our soldiers are lacking decent equipment. Public collections might both draw in more $ AND get people thinking about where their money is actually going in Iraq, since it clearly isn't being spent on the troops.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Well this is a multi tracked attack

as it were

Trust me I have been posting articles about this on AOL, for
instance

You and I have to go out there and scream this to the hills

[kayell]

14. Screaming away

I think I'll go pass the boot at work, in addition to some extra posting. Time to fax to my congress peep again.

[Serial Mom]

16. That is exactly the problem though. . .

Public collections of money are paying for more and more things while our taxes and the billions alloted for this war are being spent how and for what if not what our soldiers need!?

I find it hard to believe that the defense budget cannot include basic supplies for the soldiers. Who the hell sits on the budget committee, spends billions of dollars and forgets to include good boots for the national guard, and toothpaste, and etc. for the soldiers overseas on assignment!

Off the subject, the same has been happening with school budgets - basic supplies are not covered anymore, so teachers tend to spend out of their own pockets, or parents are now paying all sorts of fees.


:wtf:

[kayell]

17. My thought was that public collections

would shock people into realizing that our soldiers are poorly equipped despite the immense amount of money that we are sending to Iraq/Halliburton. Any money collected would certainly benefit the soldiers, but the very act of collecting money for neccessary supplies should get some attention.

[Serial Mom]

24. I agree with you

I only state that it is a problem becuase then sometimes the government expects this generousity from the public and never accounts for things it should.

I am all for helping those that need: the soldiers AND the families of the soldiers who are suffering through this, but my problem is that the families and the soldiers should NOT BE SUFFERING during their service to this country. The government should be taking care of their everyday needs including food, supplies, healthcare, education of the dependent children, etc. etc.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Ain't privatization grand?

The person who came up with that idea should be taken to the wood shed.

[TAH6988]

4. What does

"privatization" have to do with this? Sounds more like years of unfunded equipment accounts.

[jpgray]

6. That was pretty hilarious

Come on--anyone who knows American history beyond a very superficial level knows government suppliers sometimes turn out shoddy or incomplete pieces of equipment for outrageous profit. Remember the contract for the expensive, air conditioned living quarters for our guys in Iraq? Well, they were paid for, but it seems the troops aren't getting them. That's one example for you. Or the wrench set from WW1 bought in the thousands that would only fit the bolts on the Hoover Dam--it's all over the place.

:)

[TAH6988]

8. That's not what the previous

poster was talking about.

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. Not mutually exclusive issues.

I remember a time when the military had surpluses. Now we have two things occurring at the same time. First, we have Republicans underfunding and/or buying inadequate supplies because they simply don't have the money they once had due to their tax cuts. But will they ever admit that it's the tax cuts that are creating the problem? Of course not. Because the second thing they're doing is proactively claiming that big government is not as efficient as private corporations which can do it better and cheaper. And we all know that is a lie, but they'll get away with it, because Americans still want something for nothing. Americans don't see a cause and effect because they're buying the lie that private companies can do things so much better than big government. It's a lie that needs to be exposed.

So, yes, I see privatization behind this mess. Republicans are tearing down something which they will never improve on.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Before every deployment troops always have to buy

some things

What irks me about this is... some of the gear the troops need go
beyond boots (L.L Bean, regular army issue are crap), but
to Interceptor body armor plates, because we do not have enough...

And I could go on

Fact is this is but one more irritant that is turning the armed
forces against the boys in charge

The webbing I am not shocked, btw, uniform items are covered
by uniform allowances... in theory so are the boots, but the
basic ones are crap

[michaelbmoore]

25. Do you know

How many parents have had to buy interceptor plates for their children???

Is's $660 a pop.

[Serial Mom]

7. I also heard they needed Toliet Paper!

How sad is that? Along with toothpaste and toothbrushes!

This new $87B also was for more body armour - what the hell was the first tens of billions for?

Why do they need the basics?

OBTW, don't you mean Army International Guard?

[glitch]

11. So what exactly does Halliburton supply? nt

[kayell]

12. Cheney's retainer

nt

[Karenina]

32. A bank account number

into which billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars flow with NO ACCOUNTING why for... Kinda like those Swiss deals, ya know.

[leftofthedial]

15. I'm shocked and awed

The Fraudministration is wholly fixated on war profiteering.

[grasswire]

23. why should taxpayers pay twice?

This is outrageous.

But instead of taking the pressure off by collecting more money from citizens, it's time to start a class war. The rich, by virtue of the tax cuts, have avoided any burden of the war costs. (Too, their sons and daughters are not at risk.)

It's time to start calling them out. It's time for a class war. Time to shame them for shirking their share.

So I suggest taking that boot to the country club and the snooty restaurants and the rich churches. Get some service mothers and go shame the rich.

[Dr Fate]

19. Perhaps the "Coalition of the Willing" we heard so much about could help..

...remember before the war- whenever anyone DARED to suggest that we should not 'go it alone"- they were quickly corrected by Bush/media- who assured us that we did indeed have "international support" from an unknown organization called "The Coalition of Willing"...

Perhaps we can get them to send us some $$$ from their secret headquarters in Cypruss...

[kayell]

20. You mean that list of tiny 3rd world nations

many of whom were so embarrassed to be part of the coalition of the bribed that they didn't want their names listed publicly?

[Dr Fate]

29. The UN is IRRELEVANT!!!!!!

That is why we need their money and troops so bad!!!!!

[JailBush]

22. This is actually quite humorous!

First, KOMO TV is based in the corporate brothel of Seattle and is owned by Fisher Broadcasting, whose CEO, I believe, was mentioned in the Seattle Weekly classic, "Who REALLY Runs Seattle"?

KOMO TV earned the nickname "The John Stanford Channel" for its disgusting coverage of the retired general turned Seattle Schools Superintendent, who was being groomed for a position as U.S. Secretary of Education, under either President Gore or Bush. (Stanford - the George Bush of public education - died, so Dubya chose another Uncle Tom from Seattle's sister city, Houston. And I believe KOMO was the TV station that hired Stanford's son, while Governor Locke recruited Stanford's widow, even though both knew even less about education than St. John did.)

The education connection is fitting, because many teachers and parents have yearned for the day schools are properly funded, and the MILITARY has to hold bake sales to scrape together enough money for weapons. Of course, schools ARE properly funded; the money is simply wasted and embezzled by the "Education Mafia," with Demopublicans and the Green Party of Seattle eagerly sharing in the spoils.

So we can now look forward to the day when the teachers and GI's who won't lift a finger to fight Haliburton and the National Education Association are reduced to holding bake sales. What a country!

[Noordam]

28. I miss my Vietnam combat boots

After returning from Nam, the first thing I did was toss my Jungle boots. I have always been sorry I did that. So many times over the years I could have used them.... :(:(:(

[aquart]

30. And maybe a decent gun?

Last night on 60 Minutes, how many guns jammed when Jessica Lynch was wounded and captured?

[aeon flux]

31. Her squad mates would be alive if their weapons fired properly.

An official report on the Lynch ambush near Nasiriyah said that several weapons, including M-16s, M249 Squad Automatic Weapons and a .50-caliber machine gun, jammed or failed to operate properly during the firefight.

What are they doing with the $87 b? Smoking it?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

33. Or the converse....

If they exhibited a threat while being vastly outnumbered at the moment, the Iraqi Army might have just RPG'd the wrechkage until it became quiet. Fate is strange.

[kskiska]

34. Maybe Laura Bush could ask schoolchildren

to donate their allowances for our soldiers, the way they did for the kids in Afghanistan.