Monday, 8 March, 2004

Range Roving with the stars As I with hairshirt and acetyl spraeic acid attempt to mortify the body, to sear the guilty flesh, or at least encourage the parasitic virus within to move along. I pause, what exactly do cold and flu viruses gain by making you sick anyway? What's in it for them? Where is the glory? What Pindar sings for the common cold? An article in the Boston Globe today Iraq death spurs push for Humvee armor brought to mind an article I read last month in Slate Hummer Bummer: why is the White House underfunding armored humvees. I had considered writing about it then, but its true nature was budgetary and selling its significance seemed like an uphill struggle. The Boston Globe article puts a human face to this bit of policy. A soldier writes to his father about how exposed he feels in unarmored humvees and is killed on patrol a few days later. The Military envisioned that combat patrols would conducted with Bradleys or the like, as part of their general unpreparedness they don't have enough of these in iraq and are patrolling with unarmored hummers. Hummers are scarcely more adequate for this than Techinicals (pick-up truck with a machine gun in the back, war-wagon of choice across the world) and they cost three times as much. Two related things are converging in the budget arena. The war will be paid for by a supplemental appropriation - and that will not go to congress before the election; until then the army has to sit tight. What funding as has been requested runs deliberately pedestrian; ammunition, body armor, Humvee conversion kits are not included at levels needed, because a lower initial request can be made and sold to congress without them, and you can descend into crises mode later on and get those things on an emergency basis. Works fine for everyone - except people like PFC John Hart. 11:23:23 PM    comment [];trackback [];

© Copyright 2004 Paul Bushmiller. Last update: 4/06/04; 10:18:02.