In July 2003, the president said, “Anytime this nation puts one of our youngsters into harm’s way, we’d better — and we will — make sure they get the best training, the best equipment, the best possible support.” The quote may be a little old, but Bush has said similar things repeatedly ever since.
The quote, however, sounds increasingly outrageous when one considers the fact that troops in Iraq not only felt the need to frequently purchase protective gear with their own money, but can’t even get reimbursed for the investment.
Nearly a year after Congress demanded action, the Pentagon has still failed to figure out a way to reimburse soldiers for body armor and equipment they purchased to better protect themselves while serving in Iraq.
Soldiers and their parents are still spending hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for armor they say the military won’t provide. One U.S. senator said Wednesday he will try again to force the Pentagon to obey the reimbursement law it opposed from the outset and has so far not implemented.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he will offer amendments to the defense appropriations bill working its way through Congress, to take the funding issue out of the hands of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and give control to military unit commanders in the field.
“Rumsfeld is violating the law,” Dodd said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s been sitting on the books for over a year. They were opposed to it. It was insulting to them. I’m sorry that’s how they felt.”
The war began over two years ago, the protective gear was bought nearly that long ago, and now the Pentagon says it is in “the stages of putting a reimbursement program together and it is expected to be operating soon.” What’s taken so long? The Pentagon “would not discuss the reason for the delay.”
Troops go to war with the leaders they have, unfortunately not the leaders they’d like to have.