Adequate Protection

[13788]

Inwood: Sorry this isn't about condoms.

There was an article in the NYTimes that our military has been sending our troops on dangerous patrols in Iraq in Humvees made of aluminum and fiberglass. And now that a bunch have been blown away resulting in deaths of our soldiers the military is ordering the steel ones again.

What brilliant mind thought of sending vehicles into combat, not supply, but combat made out of aluminum and fiberglass?

It just boggles the mind the decisions that are made sometimes by people in positions of authority.

 

[jonb]

Two words: Agent Orange. And then there are cluster bombs, also introduced in Vietnam. The bomblets have a failure rate of 'only' 20%, thus creating an uncharted minefield that could just as easily wipe out both sides, or the obligatory child 20 years later. Not to mention Reagan's whole Star Wars proposal, which had to be, bar none, the STUPIDEST idea ever.

If you think that's bad, various attempts on Castro's life have actually included poison pens and exploding cigars!

And if that's not enough, some companies INTENTIONALLY sell the military faulty equipment.

 

[13788]

jerkin4-10: even though star wars was a miserable failure...the technology that was gained in the attempt to implement the failed project will pay off for decades to come...including wireless power transmission..

 

[13788]

longtimelurker: Well you're not the only ones with an ill-equipped military. It has been revealed that, for a war that was supposed to be against a ruthless dictator with a stash of biological and chemical agents our troops went in without a single item of protective clothing or any decontamination equipment at all.

The tragic part of it is that one group actually went back to the UK to search for what they were meant to have, went to the military base that they were meant to have been stored at only to find that the stuff wasn't there and nobody knew where it was likely to be, either.

 

[13788]

niner: [quote author=Inwood link=board=99;num=1072459182;start=0#0 date=12/26/03 at 09:10:42]What brilliant mind thought of sending vehicles into combat, not supply, but combat made out of aluminum and fiberglass?[/quote]

Considering you don't need to galvanize aluminum and it's dirt cheap, and you can get fiberglass cheaper than a day's work for a sweat-shop employee, it was probably some lame-brain at the Pentagon who thought it was smarter to use penny pinching techniques without consideration for the people who use the technology... the Bush Administration is how much in debt over this war?

 

[jonb]

[quote author=niner link=board=99;num=1072459182;start=0#4 date=01/06/04 at 20:36:54]Considering you don't need to galvanize aluminum and it's dirt cheap, and you can get fiberglass cheaper than a day's work for a sweat-shop employee, it was probably some lame-brain at the Pentagon who thought it was smarter to use penny pinching techniques without consideration for the people who use the technology...  the Bush Administration is how much in debt over this war?
[/quote]
$300 billion, IIRC. Now, a Democrat would raise taxes (or would've aborted the war months ago) right about now. A Republican will cut taxes for anyone making over $1 million by another 10% and continue the war.

 

[jay_too]

There was an article a week or so ago in the Chicago Tribune about a reserve unit from Missouri that had been called up for service in Iraq and wanted more protection than fiberglass and aluminum; ya know like steel plate. The reserve unit found a company that would donate the steel plate (about $4000) and a machine shop that would cut and install the plate on the humvee floorboards and door panels (again about $4000). Costs to the U.S. Treasury would be zero.

But the Pentagon in its wisdom and concern with awarding another no-bid contract [no doubt] told the unit that unauthorized modifications to vehicles was forbidden.

My God, American lives are jeapordized by such venality and stupidity.

jay

 

[13788]

myriadian: hi,

i'm afraid i may come across a bit harshly.

generally i agree with the spirit of this discussion, soldiers should definitely have adequate protection and military spending should be adequate to meet the need etc, and i realize this is just a friendly discussion.....but, if there are any ppl who actually are outraged about this, is the sum total of your efforts to fix the problem posting to a big cock website?

if you actually are outraged then call your senators and representatives and give them a fair talking to, that's what they are there for and you can demand thier time, not that they'll say 'oh! i'll run right over to the pentagon and get that fixed' but they get so little feedback from thier constituency that 1 voice can be rather telling.

so, that's all, i agree with the discussion but not strongly enough to feel i should actually do anything about it.

M.

 

[jonb]

Speaking of no-bid contracts, lookie what I found:

[flash=400,300]reconst.swf[/flash]

 

[13788]

Inwood: Good point about are we just posting to a big cock website. I didn't give all the info in the story. The pentagon has already started ordering armored Humvees again and the factory is pumping them out as fast as they can.

I just was amazed that somebody made this decision to send these unarmored Humvees out and wanted to see what others thought of it.

From my point I guess since the problem had been recognized and corrective action taken I was not moved to contact my representative or senator. Now maybe if I had discovered this myself and nobody else knew then I would have a heavier burden to bear if I did not take action.

But your comment, at least to me, was not harsh. It's just a good point to bring up.

 

[13788]

myriadian: well thank you inwood, i appreciate the followup to the story and not being flamed. i'm glad to hear that they are correcting the protection situation.

be well,
M.