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There’s an old bumpersticker that says: “It’ll be a great day when our schools get all the money that they need and the Pentagon has to hold bake sales.”
Well, guess who is now having to hold bake sales to get the supplies they need? Not the Pentagon itself, of course – its official budget is half-a-trillion dollars a year. But the grunts – the soldiers putting their lives on the line in Bush’s war – are so inadequately supplied by the warmongering Bushites that they must turn to family members, churches, or charity to get vital battle gear.
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It’s been widely reported that the Bushites have failed miserably to provide the life-saving armor that all of our vulnerable soldiers need. But, less well known is that even basic items are not provided – such as ballistic glasses that are less likely to fog up in Iraq’s 120-degree heat, shirts and socks that wick sweat away from the body, helmet sweatbands, and water pouches. These are products that can make a life-or-death difference for our men and women who are fighting in this land of oppressive heat, and all are readily available in the U.S. market – in fact, they are commonly issued to police forces at home.
The Pentagon, however, says that such items are too costly, so soldiers wanting them must get them on their own. Hello – Pentagon brass – you routinely waste billions of our tax dollars on razzle-dazzle weaponry that isn’t needed and doesn’t work, but you can’t find a few extra dollars to give every grunt the goggles and socks they need? Besides, paychecks for soldiers are as low as $14,000 a year – why should their safety be a matter of personal affordability?
This is Jim Hightower saying… Such non-profit groups as Operation Enduring Support have stepped up and are doing what they can to help. They raise money to provide some of these items for some of the soldiers being shipped out to Iraq – but come on, where are the Bushites and congress when it comes to making “Support our Troops” more than an empty political slogan?
Sources:
“Agency helps troops gear up for life in Iraq,” Austin American-Statesman, January 16, 2006.