If this wasn't such a serious subject, it would almost be funny. Yesterday, Bush was in California urging Americans to support the troops. According to the Associated Press:
The time of war is a time of sacrifice, especially for our military families," Bush said, wearing a tan military jacket with epaulets. "I urge every American to find some way to thank our military and to help out the military family down the street.Yet, as John notes below, almost at the same time, Rumsfeld was telling the troops to go fuck themselves because they wanted proper equipment: You go to war with the Army you have.
Ok, here's how I want to support the young men and women who are fighting and dying in Iraq: Give them the equipment they need to keep them alive. Oh, I know, saying that probably makes me unpatriotic. But we pay an awful lot of our tax dollars for military equipment. The thought of American kids picking through garbage to find supplies should horrify the President and the Secretary of Defense.
So, Mr. President, when you say "In this season of giving, let us stand with the men and women who stand up for America, our military." I say, "In this season of giving, let us provide the men and women who stand up for America, our military, the best available equipment to let them do their jobs. In this season of giving, let us not make the men and women who stand up for America, our military, pick through local landfills to find scrap metal."
I bet most Americans would agree.
