tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post7836979232997248962..comments2023-12-03T02:23:12.272-06:00Comments on BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com: $10 Billion Pentagon Program Fails To Defeat IED Threat In IraqMarc McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-3758374924750589922009-03-02T13:08:00.000-06:002009-03-02T13:08:00.000-06:00The cellular network was never shut down. Never. ...The cellular network was never shut down. Never. Because of that fact, the insurgents have learned to use cellular phones to remote-trigger IEDs.Gary Lee Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09103685386673392004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-84050599766933278372009-03-02T12:48:00.000-06:002009-03-02T12:48:00.000-06:00The cellular network was never shut down. Never. ...The cellular network was never shut down. Never. How do a majority of remote-controlled IEDs get triggered? Cell phones. We never controlled the battlespace in this area, and that is where the enemy lived yesterday, today, and likely tomorrow. GLT.Gary Lee Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09103685386673392004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-71710644546471207092008-07-07T22:10:00.000-05:002008-07-07T22:10:00.000-05:00Hi Jolly Sapper, thanks for your comment. If you d...Hi Jolly Sapper, thanks for your comment. If you don't mind me asking, how do you lean politically? I'm just curious (the stereotype that I hear a lot of these days is that "the troops are 90 percent Republicans" and I always wonder how accurate that is).Marc McDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-68780966729878810362008-07-07T16:11:00.000-05:002008-07-07T16:11:00.000-05:00Just another in a long line of costly (in terms of...Just another in a long line of costly (in terms of dollars and lives) miscalculations by the higher-ups. It would be easier to simply send a card that said "FUCK YOU" to everyone in uniform.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-23772614286457887532008-07-07T14:38:00.000-05:002008-07-07T14:38:00.000-05:00Botacchio, It was all part of the plan. Bush and t...Botacchio, It was all part of the plan. Bush and the Neocons knew the public would not accept a draft to invade Iraq. The plan was to say that a small force was all that was needed. That's why Shinsiki got canned. To bolster this 'small' force was, the well hidden fact at the time, the adddition of as many private contracting personnel as possible. This effectively doubled the size of the 'small force' and freed the troops all up for combat. In my opinion this was all planned. They knew they couldn't sell a draft but wanted as many troops/people on the ground as possible. They wanted to be there for Bush's second term and beyond. They wanted Iraq destabilized as much as possible to foster its dependence on us. They have utilized the all volunteer army to its maximum to achieve their goals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-86013510285213687382008-07-07T11:38:00.000-05:002008-07-07T11:38:00.000-05:00Rumsfeld wanted a small force to prove his own the...Rumsfeld wanted a small force to prove his own theories right, in part - while much of the Bush administration knew a larger force would be a harder sell. As Digby often writes, the incompetence is a feature, not a bug.Batocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02193752396025012825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-77977375151150830722008-07-07T11:25:00.000-05:002008-07-07T11:25:00.000-05:00Another example of the U.S. being penny-wise and p...Another example of the U.S. being penny-wise and pound-foolish.<BR/><BR/>Before 9/11, Bush was single-mindedly focused on the $250 billion "missile defense" boondoggle (even though many top scientists said it could never work).<BR/><BR/>Bush refused to spend a tiny fraction of that (a proposed $50 million) to implement the recommendations of the Rudman/Hart commission (which on Feb. 15, 2001, recommended the created of a "National Homeland Security Agency" which would coordinate various government agencies in combating terror).<BR/><BR/>And today, we're bogged down in the $3 trillion Iraq War fiasco---while our homeland remains woefully unprepared to deal with terrorism. (Few of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations have been implemented).<BR/><BR/>And the airlines remain extremely vulnerable to terrorism (for example, here we are, seven years after 9/11, and much of what is loaded into cargo holds on passenger planes remains uninspected).<BR/><BR/>Like I said, penny-wise and pound-foolish.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-1418783070172886342008-07-07T10:43:00.000-05:002008-07-07T10:43:00.000-05:00As a combat engineer in Iraq for the invasion and ...As a combat engineer in Iraq for the invasion and initial stages of the occupation I can attest to the lack of priority given to securing, moving and destroying munitions stockpiles.<BR/><BR/>The few times I was sent out with the rest of my platoon to deal with caches we realized that we didn't have enough people on site to be able to move everything we found in one day, we didn't have the people to leave anybody behind to guard the leftovers, we were running out of demolitions, we were constantly being yelled out for making the blasts too big (which was a direct cause of not having our demo supply restocked), and in the end was a horribly frustrating task.<BR/><BR/>-Jolly Sapper-Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com