by James Glaser
October 25, 2005

Nothing gets a combat veteran angrier than hearing another lie from the Commander-in-Chief. I know you have heard it before, the praise George Bush heaps on our troops in Iraq. I know you have also heard George say that he will make sure our troops have the equipment they need to do their job. In the last few weeks Generals in the field have been telling Congress and the American people, that the troops have the equipment they need.

Well, the President and those Generals have been lying to you, me, the families of our troops, and the troops in the field.

Scripps Howard News Service, reported on October 23, 2005 that, "Hundreds of new, top-of-the-line armored Humvees are parked in Texas and Kuwait, and won't be shipped to troops in Iraq even though those soldiers face daily roadside bombs, the Army acknowledged Thursday."

It is reported that more than one in four U.S. soldiers' deaths in Iraq have been caused by roadside bombs, and these hundreds of new and "better," "up armored," Humvees would no doubt save lives.

The American people support our troops, but George Bush and the Pentagon have decided that these new and better vehicles should be saved for troops from the 3rd Infantry Division, who won't get to Iraq until the end of the year.

The Pentagon and George Bush have told us that the troops have the equipment they need to do their job, but the Marines have requested 2,814 armored Humvees, and so far have only received 744 of them.

The only reason that we know about these new Humvees, is because a Congressional staffer happened to be at Fort Hood Texas, saw hundreds of them parked there, and started asking questions.

Ever since Bush's war in Iraq started, families and friends of our troops have been raising money to buy our troops the equipment they need to fight and protect themselves. Hundreds of troops have been killed and thousands wounded, because Washington has failed to support them with the equipment promised.

George Bush is the Commander in Chief, and the American troops fighting in Iraq are depending on him to keep his word, and he has failed them again.