The top U.S. commander in Iraq complained to the Pentagon last winter that his supply situation was so poor that it threatened Army troops' ability to fight, according to an official document that has surfaced only now.
The lack of key spare parts for gear vital to combat operations, such as tanks and helicopters, was causing problems so severe, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez wrote in a letter to top Army officials, that "I cannot continue to support sustained combat operations with rates this low."
He also said units were waiting an average of 40 days for critical spare parts, which he noted was almost three times the Army's average. In some Army supply depots in Iraq, 40 percent of critical parts were at "zero balance," meaning they were absent from depot shelves, he said.
He also protested in his letter, sent Dec. 4 to the number two officer in the Army, with copies to other senior officials, that his soldiers still needed protective inserts to upgrade 36,000 sets of body armor but that their delivery had been postponed twice in the month before he was writing.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&ncid=1802&e=1&u=/washpost/20041018/ts_washpost/a40321_2004oct17***********
Having been a Purchasing agent in the USAF during the Vietnam Era I can tell you that THIS Is caused by the Rummy "Tooth to Tail" program of companies like Halliburton and Bechtel supplying troops with no Bid contracts - the McSoldiers are being maimed and killed (potentially starved and dehydrated) so that these companies can KEEP THE MONEY, just like any corporation will do.
The supply of the military needs to be done BY THE MILITARY exclusively - this nepotism is a blatant giveaway to Bush's pals and HE should be IMPEACHED or Jailed as he swore an OATH to protect and defend our Nation, and that includes the TROOPS.
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