Reader Rant: Bush Administration Helps Friends, Shortchanges Troops

Recently the press reported a Pentagon study that asserted that 80% of American casualties in Iraq could have been avoided had the troops been equipped with the proper body armor. That report immediately reminded me of the young man who, during a staged press conference with Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq, rose and asked Rumsfeld if his promises of the best support possible were true, why were they picking through junk heaps looking for metal to reinforce their vehicles against IED's.

It seems that these two events in themselves would reveal the utter cynicism and deceitfulness of this Republican administration. Contrast this serious, factual, and uncontested lack of support for our troops with the rhetoric of the administration. They portray our fighting men and women as heroes. They try to convince the country that they are fighting to keep us safe, bring democracy to the Middle East, bring freedom to the Iraqui people and defeat terrorism. As their polls sink their rhetoric rises. However, consider the following:

Beginning with Ronald Reagan the Republicans established as part of their firm beliefs and principles that "privatization" is the direction the federal government should seek. Everyone knows the rhetoric; 'private industry is more efficient, cost effective, etc., than big government.' In reality it means giving huge government contracts to repay people who have contributed to your treasury and put you in office. It means huge profits for friends of politicians.

Based on this principle, the Bush administration allows the lives of our fighting men and women to be exposed to deadly force - all for the sake of profit. Instead of properly preparing for the war to make sure everyone is armed as best possible, or immediately opening government plants (as happened in WWII) to quickly produce the best armor, they have allowed our men and women to fight with substandard armor, allowed limited capacity of production, and given the market entirely to their friends in private industry so that they can have handsome wartime profits.

Parents, children, spouses, etc. have had to order this armor from private companies and send it to their loved ones. Is it not the height of cynicism, sending your own troops into battle knowing full well that they are poorly protected simply because "privatization" financially benefits a few friends? Is it not the height of deceitfulness and dishonesty for this administration to make critics of the war look unpatriotic and non-supportive of the troops when they knowingly deprive our troops of proper protection for the sake of profits? I wonder what that 80% thought when they read the report of their own leadership in the Pentagon. This simply shows that for the sake of profit the Republican Party will do anything.

cwpfeiffer@zoominternet.net