"A Rummy Deal" - Commentary by Tony Seton

A Rummy Deal

A reporter from a small newspaper, one of those embedded with our military in Iraq, heard that the military’s top boss was heading for town. He knew that the press wouldn’t be allowed to ask Donald Rumsfeld a question, so he induced a solder to ask why our troops are so poorly equipped that they have to rummage through garbage dumps for pieces of metal to protect themselves from roadside bombs. The question, asked aloud in front of a whole slew of soldiers, brought a rousing chorus of accord.

One of the results of the incident was that the reporter was lambasted for planting the question. Pshaw! No doubt the reporter would have asked it himself if he could have, but the Pentagon propaganda machine knew better than to let reporters ask questions; they thought they’d be safe from the wrapped-in-the-flag cannon fodder whose checks he signed.

In fact, soldiers have been complaining about the lack of protection since they arrived. Most of the complaints have come through their families at home. Last month, a group of soldiers refused to take an inadequately protected convoy on the road because they didn’t want to be killed. The brass slapped them on the wrist but that was all. In point of fact, more soldiers -- maybe all of them -- should have been screaming their heads off about the lethal lack of planning that has put them in harm’s way.

In any event, the consequent headlines were reporting that the "Army Rushes to Harden Iraq-Bound Vehicles" but these thoughts arise. Why didn’t the military provide the properly-plated vehicles from the get-go? Why did it take this question -- a public challenge to their chief -- to get the Pentagon off the armorless dime? And who really thinks the military is going to keep up appearances after the story leaves the front pages?

It’s just the tip of the iceberg in this disaster we call Iraq. In a country sitting on the second largest oil reserves on the planet, they are running out of fuel for things like, um, heat. Surely it would be a good thing for the future of the country if Iraqis don’t freeze to death before they get to vote next month.

They are going to vote, aren’t they? Most independent observers think the country is sinking into greater chaos, jeopardizing even the notion of a comprehension election. Oh, and did you read that Rumsfeld expects us to have troops on the ground in Iraq through his second four years as military leader?

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.