“As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”
So spake Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld when questioned last week by a soldier about the lack of armor on some of the military’s vehicles.
You could have presented a better answer, Mr. Secretary. The Secretary of Defense should be proactive on troop protection rather than waiting to be blindsided by shortcomings of the status quo.
You could have explained that, originally, CENTCOM had ordered only 1,000 up-armored vehicles for the battlefield, but that number was increased to 2,500 by April 2004 in response to terrorist tactics. An additional 2,000 up-armored vehicles were scheduled to be delivered by December 2004. That gives our soldiers a total of 4,500 up-armored humvees to date.
An additional 8,000 humvees have had up-armored kits installed. This is an improvement, but the kits leave tops and bottoms of vehicles vulnerable.
I realize that we don’t live in a perfect world. We work with what we’ve got. However, I would like it if we worked more quickly and with more focus towards supplying our soldiers with every advantage. Our troops are America’s sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, and friends. They are precious gifts, both to their loved ones and to the United States. They are not IED fodder to be flung at the terrorists like so many tin cans. I don’t have a son on the battlefield, but if I did I would raise unholy hell until he had the use of an armored vehicle.
I’ve read that the soldier’s question was staged, it was planted by an embedded reporter, its purpose was to embarrass the Bush administration. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be asked, or that it should be disregarded. I do support the war, and I support the president’s administration, but this is a case that needed to go public. It’s interesting to hear the Secretary’s remarks on the several humvees that were tooling around Washington D.C. for election security:
“The other day, after there was a big threat alert in Washington, D.C. in connection with the elections, as I recall, I looked outside the Pentagon and there were six or eight up-armored humvees. They’re not there anymore. They’re en route out here, I can assure you.”
Excuse me, but did he really say “the other day”? The election was over a month ago, Mr. Secretary. Why did Rumsfeld take such a long time to notice the “six or eight” up-armored humvees lingering outside the Pentagon? And why hadn’t anyone else mentioned to him that maybe, just possibly, the troops in Iraq could use this hardware?
Keeping our fighting soldiers as safe as possible is vitally important. It’s important to their safety, to their morale, and to the success of their mission—which is our protection. For me, the troops come first. They come before saving the president or his representatives any embarrassment. The troops shouldn’t just “deserve the best,” they should have it, and have it promptly. In my opinion, Rumsfeld deserved to be clobbered on this question. I say the Pentagon should get our soldiers the armor they need, get it fast, get it right, and don’t wait to be either asked or told about it.
Maybe I’m a hopeless idealist, but I think that’s a better answer.
