C-SPAN ...reporter that went to Iraq with Dubya was given Flack Vest that

[sam sarrha]

the troops dont have...he said some one took the as soon as he turned his back on it. Priorities of the President..Protect the supporting 'press', but NOT protect the TROOPS that he put in harms way with LIES.

[carrowsboy]

1. pardon my ignorance

what does a Flack Vest do? Is it like a bullet-proof vest?

[ET Awful]

3. Well, an old style flack vest

which is where they got their name didn't do much to stop a bullet, but it stopped shrapnel, etc., aka flack.

The newer ones (at least the better ones) have kevlar panels much like police style bullet-proof vests do.

[MoAWO]

35. Police what?

My vest has no kevlar panels?
Where do I get one?

[niyad]

4. basically the same idea, yes-- thousands of the troops don't have them,

and are either paying for them themselves, or having family members buy them here and ship them. this is absolutely disgusting

[Kitsune]

5. It's not as good as the new ones with ceramic plates

but AFAIK, yeah. It at least would protect against shrapnel, even if it wouldn't do much against an AK-47 round.

[sam sarrha]

6. i'm dating myself, quicker to type too... i 'm sorry about your bad

attitude.. I hope you get better, soon.

[KoKo]

2. Who was the reporter who went with Dubya, I missed C-Span this a.m.

???

[CatWoman]

18. Look in LBN, Koko

there's a thread there about Fox reporters accompanying * to Iraq, but no CNN reporters.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kitsune]

8. And this has what to do with a reporter's flak jacket being swiped?

[Foesad]

10. my bad

I must have misinterpretted the message. I read it as a complaint that he had a flack jacket while the troops don't.

[trumad]

9. He's not my fucking president

and don't come on here spouting that he is... He's a fraud photo op son of a bitch!

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[rumguy]

12. once again this has nothing to do with the original post

the troops are NOT being supported they way they should, instead they aer being used for photo-ops by a prez that sneaks in and out, in a few weeks the troops over there will be JOKING about this....it'll harden their feelings against this horrid fraud of a man...

[alfredo]

54. Let's face it, we do not want Bush a Martyr. No matter what we feel

about the chimp. A lot of innocents would die if Bush got liquidated there. We'd then have Cheney in charge, and a lot of sympathy votes.

Bush has enough money to fly over there for a photo op, but not enough for protective gear for our soldiers. that is disgusting.

Bush is better a live failure than a dead martyr.

[symbolman]

13. Then why did the IDIOT

go there?

He's NOT the President and everyone knows it.

A Photo op for campaigning and MORE troops will be killed over this by outraged guerillas..

This idiot is killing people just by showing up.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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[sistersofmercy]

17. Whatever! Obviously this will not be an election issue next year but

do you mean to imply the twit* was elected? Not selected? If so I suggest you brush up on the 2000 election, the state in question for the election was where his brother is governor? We have a perfect right to bitch about it as much as we please! Furthermore, history books in the not to distant future will reveal the fraud for what it was.

[carrowsboy]

20. ask Lott et al

They said Clinton wasn't their president.

Looks like you and them can dish the shit out but can't take it. So cowardly...

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

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[CatWoman]

29. What's all this "we" ........................????????

*resetting holding pattern mode*

[sistersofmercy]

30. "Lock ourselves into a holding pattern of useless whining?"...

"everytime we don't WIN an election just because "they" DID?" Excuse me, "they" DID NOT WIN SHIT, "they" perpetrated a fucking fraud and STOLE the election through the appearance of selection.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

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[sistersofmercy]

34. OK, since your new and seemingly are earnest in your opinion I'll tell you

Heard about BBV? There are people here working very hard to ensure what happened the last election does not happen next year. One in particular is Bev Harris.
For the record we are not whining, we are fucking pissed about it and will not forget any of the criminal endeavors the twit* and his thugs have pulled to get power and loot our country as well as Iraq.
It is only the repubs who refer to Democrats as sniveling, whining, beating a dead horse sore losers! I suggest you find a better way to say it or drop it completely.
All here perfectly understand there are many issues confronting the Democratic Party. I like to refer to it as the let's play Scramble because this misadministration has literally pulled so much underhanded dealings, Plame, PA, Energy Papers, Environmental etc (long,long list) it forces Democrats to choose from different issues rather than uniting for just one to send the house of cards tumbling.

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

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[CatWoman]

45. I don't understand

I will drop it, although I don't believe its only the repubs.

could you explain, please?

what is only the repubs?

Republicans control all branches of the government, plus the media.

So pray tell: what are they complaining about? A stolen election?

[Foesad]

51. nothing that I know of

I don't know that they're complaining.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

46. And thank you for wasting our time spouting the NeoCon line of bull.

[Foesad]

50. don't know what Neocon line of bull is...

but you must be very busy

[Media_Lies_Daily]

64. Not too busy to debunk NeoCon thinking...

...if you even want to call it "thinking".

Check my post #62 for a rebuttal to your pathetic NeoCon comments about defense cuts.

[TacticalPeek]

25. Although 'presidential' security niceties are OT this thread,

as others note, one must still puzzle at the protocols that result in operational fluster over impromptu presidential gift-shopping forays, but seem to grin and bear it when AF-1 cruises into a combat zone and lands in a hot LZ.

Oh, sorry, I'm wrong. Its not a combat zone and not a hot LZ. That's a different war. That was the one he missed, but learned a lot from. He at least learned which reporters to garb in the ceramic armor.

Good thing he skipped a haircut on the Baghdad runway, or someone might have noticed the air traffic freeze and resulting SNAFU for real operations.

President Showboat
Poseur-in-Chief

:evilgrin:

[Eloriel]

65. Not only that, but just how many people here at DU

EVER call him "our president" or "president" at all?

I can't name a one.

It just isn't done.

Eloriel

[CatWoman]

19. Fuck him

:nuke:

[Skittles]

26. hey CatWoman

tell Streak he needs to put the bong down.

[CatWoman]

27. LOL

Stop picking on Streak!!! :D

[donsu]

21. there is no other viewpoint - it was political

smirk didn't go to cheer the troops.

Rove set it up to stop the press on Hillary going to Afghan and Iraq.

Rove will use this stunt for brainwashing.

he is NOT the president.

we have lost presidents right inside the good old usa from hit men hired by the bushgang.

if smirk and condi had been killed in Iraq the world would have rejoiced.

get a grip

[areschild]

32. He is NOT my president,

Never will be, no way, no how. And please don't tell me to "get real". The reality is: that scumbag was selected by the SCOTUS.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

43. Herr Coke-n-Smoke is the token leader of the NeoCon Junta...

...which illegally took power by claiming to be legally elected in December 2000. They even had the Supreme Court vote 5-4 to attempt to give the coup an air of legality.

And now, the NeoCons are going about the business of global domination using outright lies as justifications for war, starting with the Middle East first.

Go find a board that actually believes what you wrote...you won't find much sympathy here.

[sistersofmercy]

15. Well, isn't that just dandy? To quote a British protest sign, "What is

bush* doing in President Gore's plane?" The squatter* has no scruples whatsoever! This stunt will backfire big time.

[cosmicdot]

16. what a nice day to visit DU to see how the Baghdad boondoggle

is going over ...

:eyes:

[donsu]

23. america no longer has "nice days"

nt

[AmericanDem]

22. They also said that...

select group of reprters were only aloud to go. Mainly FAUX news. This was mentioned in the news article spots they show.

edit for article...http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/cnn/1103/28cnn.html

[donsu]

24. I heard the reporter on c-span too

and he said he figured that whoever took it needed it more then he did.

that large box at the grocery store is still asking for donations of supplies for the troops. two on the list are toothpaste and tampons.

american mothers are plunking hard earned cash to buy vests, etc. for their children in Iraq. The couple of trillon dollars the pentagon can't find should be providing the vests, toothpaste and tampons.

[Lisa]

31. given that the reporter would be there for 2.5 hours ...

... while the soldier who took it was probably thinking that s/he would be stuck in Iraq for months yet, and under enemy fire too ...

I'm not too surprised. I'm glad that nobody was killed on the drive back to base from the airport.

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

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[nothingshocksmeanymore]

38. Have you two met elsewhere?

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[Lefta Dissenter]

40. Oh Puhhhleeeeeeeze,

Don't tell me you're going to blame Clinton for the fact that bush sent our boys and girls into a war based on lies, and didn't supply them with the necessary protection!

How 'bout using some of the money spent on searching for WMD to actually buy protective vests for our troops? It isn't WMD's picking off our troops every day.

[Foesad]

47. no

I'm not blaming anyone. I asked a question. Like I said, I was unaware that they are not protected.

[sistersofmercy]

59. How pathetically obtuse!

There have been care package drives here in order to send the flak jackets and other necessary items to our troops that the misadministration doesn't seem to bother about, par for the course! I get your name now! Perhaps being here for a short while will give you a dose of reality of who is really patriotic enough to support our troops in harm's way because of a lying, sneaking, smirking pipsqueak sociopath*.

[sistersofmercy]

53. More likely has something to do with not being produced by one of

the Halliburton subsidiaries or Carlyle Group subsidiaries. But let me guess you don't know anything about that either, right? Military operations are big business for both.

[Spirochete]

56. There we have it

the obligatory Clinton bash this poster has been building up to. Took you a while to get to it. A lot of freeps aren't that patient.

[tkmorris]

60. Just an aside Foesad

Are you the same Foesad from DaoC?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

62. You mean the defense cuts initiated by Cheney, don't you?...

Surely you remember that, don't you? If not, here's a reminder:

CHENEY'S PROPOSED DEFENSE CUTS PRIOR TO DESERT STORM:

Defense cuts inevitable, but impact depends on location and pace of change
June 1990
<http://minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/90-06/cuts.cfm>

...SNIP...

"The question of economic impact will ultimately be answered by the administration and Congress. Currently, Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney is proposing 2 percent annual cuts in the defense budget through 1997, but many believe Congress will insist on deeper cuts, probably in the 5 percent range."

...SNIP...

"Cheney's defense reduction plan will probably be relatively kind to the Ninth District. In June, the secretary of defense proposed cuts over the next five years that would retire six active duty Army divisions, 111 Navy ships and 11 Air Force tactical fighter wings, and remove 442,000 men and women from the 2.1 million active duty ranks. California and states in the East would be hardest hit by the proposal, analysts believe."


DEFENSE CUTS AFTER DESERT STORM ENDED MARCH 3, 1991:

A Hollow Military Debate
September 5, 2000
<http://www.cato.org/dailys/09-05-00.html>

"The Democrats are correct that the Bush campaign has selective amnesia on defense cuts. Since the height of the Reagan defense buildup, the Republicans have been responsible for cuts that dwarf those of the Democrats. The defense budget declined from $448 billion (all figures in fiscal year 2001 dollars) in 1985 to $334 billion in Bush senior's last budget -- a drop of $114 billion. For the last five years, during the Clinton-Gore administration, the budget has held steady at approximately $300 billion -- a net decrease of about $34 billion. In fact, the Clinton-Gore administration, with the backing of Congress, has begun to increase defense spending again.

But Bush and Cheney are also correct when they cite growing problems with readiness in the military -- shortages of spare parts and training, problems with recruitment and retention of personnel, and low morale among the troops. There is no denying that the Clinton-Gore administration has stretched the force to its limits. By 1999, the administration had deployed U.S. forces abroad at a record-setting pace of 48 peace-enforcement and combat missions. Most of the "pockets of unreadiness" in an otherwise dominant military are caused by those furious and far-flung deployments -- for example, Bosnia, Kosovo and Haiti -- which rapidly wear out equipment and people.

...SNIP...

...and the following paragraph is hugely ironic given today's circumstances:

"The Bush campaign rightly believes that many such deployments are not required for U.S. national security but is suspiciously vague on which deployments, if any, to eliminate. No less cloudy are the criteria for determining whether and when to intervene overseas. Moreover, Bush and Cheney criticize the current state of the U.S. military but fail to justify maintaining a substantial percentage of U.S. forces at the razor's edge of readiness in the more benign post-Cold War threat environment."

[sistersofmercy]

71. Excellent, my friend, excellent! What no meaningful retort from...

the misguided and misinformed? Suppose they're searching for a rebuttal or trying to figure out a way to change the subject? My vote goes for the trying to change the subject routine.
Great post MLD!

[CatWoman]

42. maybe it's your fault

ever think about that????

[MoAWO]

48. Yes

I tell you what. I really wish that I could support OUR troops
enough.
I would give the shirt off my back to help them if I thought
it would help.

[CatWoman]

49. so, volunteer

put your rhetoric where your mouth is.

[MoAWO]

52. I do!

I served. How about you?
I send care packages to a freind of mine that is there now.
What have you done?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

55. She has a service related disability

nice try

[CatWoman]

58. ever try adding some flak jackets in those care packages?

or do you just fill them with more empty rhetoric???

[Media_Lies_Daily]

68. You served? When, where, and what branch?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

66. Why don't you just leave your shirt on and wear it over there to Iraq...

...so you can show your suport in person.

You're talking the talk...let's see if you can walk the walk.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

44. Maybe t has to do with a President and Vice president who campaigned

claiming we were not prepared to fight two wars and one time and then started two wars at one time.

BTW...where are those WMD's. I really love a sucker.

Oh and I forgot....maybe Haliburton can take their share of the war profiteering and contribute the flak vests and call it charity.

I know the only reason people come to DU and post this shit is because they are embarassed and emasculated at the fact that they believed a lying sack of shit. If you actually served, then you should at least consider that NO troops were lost in Kosovo..a war properly executed..and over 500 have been lost in this one.....after Rummy the Dummy claimed manpower was NOT needed on the ground.

SUCKER!!!

Be happy you are out and sitting behind a screen rather than having your life risked so KING GEORGE can enrich his oil buddies with the blood of American troops.

[sistersofmercy]

61. hehehehehe! Nice one NSMA! eom

[CatWoman]

63. bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Both are those assholes are pushing up daisies!!!

[sistersofmercy]

67. Nice...

art! :evilgrin:

[sistersofmercy]

57. WTF! The budget is big enough but the money is being shuffled to the

wrong pockets, er, places! Va te faire foudre!

[Swede]

69. My god! Clinton's penis just screwed the troops out of their flak jackets!

I keep forgetting.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

70. It boils down to the NeoCons sending them to fight an illegal war,...

...knowing that they were not prepared to do so.

The troops have one MRE per day, rationed water, weapons that jam with the constant dust in the air, and some soldiers are without flak jackets.

Want to blame the budget? Blame Cheney and the defense cuts he initiated after Desert Storm.