On Iraq, the Difference a Day Makes at the NYT
On Iraq, the Difference a Day Makes at the NYT
This weekend, the New York Times carried two weirdly different front page pieces on the lives and living conditions of American soldiers in Iraq. First, there was Saturday’s report on all the wonderful amenities and cool gadgets that soldiers can find at Camp Liberty. With a carefree nod to “the occasional random mortar attack,†Kirk Semple chirpily describes life at a military base that “has the vague feel of a college campusâ€:
The soldiers live in trailers on a grid of neat gravel pathways, and the chow hall offers a vast selection of food and beverages, ethnic cuisine nights, an ice cream parlor and, occasionally, a live jazz combo. Camp Liberty, like many other bases, also has Internet cafes, an impressively stocked store, gymnasiums with modern equipment, air-conditioning everywhere and extracurricular activities like language and martial arts lessons.
Wow! Reading this article, you just might end up thinking that life in Iraq is pretty good-comfortable, even. But don’t pack your bags for Baghdad yet, because Sunday’s New York Times had another–and much less sanguine–front page story on Iraq. In harrowing detail, Michael Moss describes the recurring failure to provide amble body armor for thousands of American soldiers:
For the second time since the Iraq war began, the Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks by insurgents.
…
The effort to replace the armor began in May 2004, just months after the Pentagon finished supplying troops with the original plates – a process also plagued by delays. The officials disclosed the new armor effort Wednesday after questioning by The New York Times, and acknowledged that it would take several more months or longer to complete.
If you take the stories together, then it looks like American soldiers have no problem obtaining karate lessons, digital cameras, DVD and MP3 players, televisions, video games, laptops and live music, but still can’t get ahold of reinforced armor that might actually stop bullets.
Which do you think is more important?
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Keep them at least slightly distracted until the next patrol. It’s only when they suit up with faulty body armor that they realise the fluff is all they get with the Republican majority.
August 15th, 2005 at 11:02 amEven girl genius Jessica Simpson and her husband Nick said the situation in Iraq was far worse than they had heard or seen on TV . They could not wait to get out of there after performing for the troops. They were upset by the constant barrage of mortars and explosions heard constantly in the backgrond and stated this in a couple interviews upon returning.
Jessica & Nick a more valuable true info. source than the MSM news, go figure.
August 15th, 2005 at 11:07 amIt’s like a five star hotel in the middle of Hell. I believe I have been to a few similar places in the Caribbean.
August 15th, 2005 at 11:25 amI can only shake my head. If this happened under Clinton or Bartlet, we can just imagine the outrage.
August 15th, 2005 at 11:25 amThe lengths Konservatives go to protect the perceptions of their own… it boggles the mind.
Reality is created every moment of every day by what the Konservatives and their lapdogs in the MSM feed the US and the world. Afterall, “… now that we are Empire…”
August 15th, 2005 at 11:29 amWhat our soldiers really need: tickets home, and proper health care and benefits once they get there.
August 15th, 2005 at 11:30 amGary,
What our soldiers really need is our support to get the job done. Do you really want to fight the war on terror here?
August 15th, 2005 at 11:36 amEurope fought “terror” on their home ground over the past three decades and won.
I support our troops. My son was in Iraq for 1.75 years. But his entire company knew what they were there for: Oil. They all knew it. So rather than prolong this silliness, bring them home safe and sound. Now. Provide them the benefits they deserve.
Then, send the 10th Mountain Division back into Afghanistan and/or Pakistan to find and bring to justice Osama bin Laden.
August 15th, 2005 at 11:43 amInternet Monkey/guerilla Alert
August 15th, 2005 at 11:54 amRummy is a internet monkey (guerilla). Mock him, for being the coward it is.
Whoa,
Slow down Citizen. I am just trying to get you guys to think out of the box for once. If you don’t want us to be here, then you need to have someone patrolling the posts so that you don’t have anyone with another opinion speak. Tell me Citizen, how do we win the war on terror or do we just surrender now?
August 15th, 2005 at 12:01 pmRummy sez:
What our soldiers really need is our support to get the job done.
Given your choice of nyms, this is rather ironic.
Do you really want to fight the war on terror here?
I think we should fight against terror by getting that unelected terrorist regime out of the White House.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:07 pmGary,
What our soldiers really need is our support to get the job done. Do you really want to fight the war on terror here?
Comment by Rummy — August 15, 2005 @ 11:36 am
We are fighting the GOP terror here.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:07 pmThere is now WOT you fool.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:08 pmMock him? Terrorize him! Counter-terror is the only weapon that fights terror.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:10 pmMonkey boy
August 15th, 2005 at 12:12 pmWe patrol on our own here. It’s chicken shits like you who have never served that annoy me. Go surrender to your boyfriend and leave the posts to those who have thrown your little child box away with puberty.
#13
Not that your statement is correct, but do you mean no War on Terror?
August 15th, 2005 at 12:12 pmScrew the rest of you- go ahead and rot! I thought liberals had open minds? Well I guess I was wrong. your movement is so pathetic. No wonder you continue to lose elections. Ha Ha Ha! I am choosing to leave but I would stay if I thought there was any hope for any of you.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:15 pmRemember Rummy
August 15th, 2005 at 12:16 pmDon’t swallow!
Your surrender is graciously accepted, Rummykins.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:18 pmI just love the fact that staunch Republicans in Kentucky no longer believe the PNAC bullshit. Terror is what the GOP is feeling. Democrats in control of congressional committees with subpena power. That’s the terror the GOP is fighting now.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:20 pmUnlike Monkey Bush, we will accept your resignation, Rummy.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:21 pmGive Barbara Boxer subpoena power. That’s all I ask.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:22 pmSee Ya, Rummy!
You will be running through the streets naked with a large crowd of angry Americans chasing you down with clubs in their hands. We didn’t rip your clothes from you. You and the chimperor never had any clothes on.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:22 pmAh yes. The Global War on Error.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:24 pmYeah, I meant No War On Terror.
America has a long history of declaring war on ideas and absrtractions. If you count all those wars, like the wars on poverty, drugs, illiteracy and now, terror, we have lost more wars than we have ever won. Deal with it. We are just a country. There are no superpowers, and we can lose and fail like any other country, if we do not choose our battles and wars wisely.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:26 pmShow me a war we can win, I will fight it and we will win it. And I will advocate total war, when it is just and right and moral and legal.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:27 pmRummy,
The problem with your and Bushes theory that we are now fighting the WOT in Iraq and that is good enough to justify everything has a few logic problems.
The UK is also fighting the WOT in Iraq, yet was struck on it’s home turf, twice. Do you really think all the terrorists will automatically go to Iraq just because you say they should?
Your theory also assumes that there is a finite number of terrorists, who, once all wiped out, will cease to cause us problems.
It completely ignores the fact that western policies and actions are radicalising significantly more people than ever before. Look at recent analyses done by the CIA, MI5, Israeli and Saudi intelligence agencies that support this fact.
The only people who can’t see these self-evident truths are those who have a vested interest in ignoring them.
You’re right, thinking outside the box is good, and it all starts with thinking for yourself.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:29 pmFor now, I fight the terrorists and fundies here. That’s my job. It’s the job of other peace and freedom loving peoples to fight the terrorists and fundies in their own homelands. It’s none of my business. Iraq is and was none of our business. Too bad it distracted chimpy from a resounding success in Afghanistan. Now we are global losers. For that I will never forgive him and his kind.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:31 pmRummy,
August 15th, 2005 at 12:32 pmIf my house has sustained termite damage, I don’t think spraying for termites the next town over is of any help at all until I spray and bait around the perimiter of my house first. Then the house itself, the woodpile and structures in the yard, talk to the neighbors etc.
It could be that spraying in another town will drive the temites out, and into my area.
Resignations will NOT do.
For crimes against humanity, Bush, Cheney, Rice, Powell, Rummy, Rove, Wolfowitz, and the whole lot of them should be hauled up before a judge, jury, and thrown into the worse jail we have. Gitmo or abu Grahib will do.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:33 pmRead this latest editorial from the Times. I guess the bottom line is, some at the Times see reality and some dont….
August 15th, 2005 at 12:34 pmhttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/opinion/14rich.html
Explain to me how occupying Iraq protects me from terrorists in Pakistan?
August 15th, 2005 at 12:34 pmCheck out this post and thread at Digby’s. The comments are a wealth of wisdom and information.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2005_08_14_digbysblog_archive.html#112404980095545201
August 15th, 2005 at 12:34 pmScrew the rest of you- go ahead and rot! I thought liberals had open minds? Well I guess I was wrong. your movement is so pathetic. No wonder you continue to lose elections. Ha Ha Ha! I am choosing to leave but I would stay if I thought there was any hope for any of you.
Comment by Rummy — August 15, 2005 @ 12:15 pm
Did one of you guys steal his name? Or was that really him? If it was, I love it! If it was a parody, it was good, too!
August 15th, 2005 at 12:36 pmIt’s impossible to tell these days, and that means we are winnning. When you can’t tell the diff between the parodies and the reall wingnuts, they are losing the control of the framing. Their wheels are coming off.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:38 pmWe are winning the battle for hearts and minds, no question. Whether that will translate into winning at the ballot box will depend on us getting some integrity back into the election process.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:49 pmGary
I think the Dmes need a platform too. In addition, we need to take out the DLC feeding tube.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:51 pmYes our soldiers need our support. That means they need all the proper gear to get them home safely. It also means that we should be sending care packages to our troops.
We must never let them feel that opposition to their MISSION, is opposition to THEM. They are not there voluntarilly. Having been in the military myself you don’t go where you WANT to go, you go where you’re TOLD to go. It’s personal honor to do your job, it doesn’t mean you have to agree with the job.
To the Rabid rightytightys who think saying anything against the President is “treason”, or “morally wrong” I suggest you do two things, first go read the Constitution, you’re looking for 2 things, the first ammendment and the definition of treason (it’s the only crime SPECIFICALLY called out in the Constitution), second you should go look at the statements of Republican leaders in the time of the Kosovo war. Hypocracy is an ugly thing.
The bit on Treason is also, in the interest of fairness, reccomended for ANYONE to likes to bandy the term about.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:59 pmWell said Jennty!
August 15th, 2005 at 1:03 pmFor those connies who do not know what Jennty is talking about when it comes to Republican Leaders during Kosovo go look:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/featuredposts.html#a005568
August 15th, 2005 at 1:10 pmI think the Dems need a platform too. In addition, we need to take out the DLC feeding tube.
No argument there.
August 15th, 2005 at 1:17 pmThe Bush Iraq Report Card shows the 5 Key Steps Forward on Iraq.
Unfortunately, the President’s grade is an F.
Progressives can – and must – do better.
August 15th, 2005 at 1:27 pmWhat do the democrats stand for besides bashing Bush?
August 15th, 2005 at 1:43 pmMonkey Boy Alert
Always Right is back, time to bitch slap!
August 15th, 2005 at 1:44 pm#42 – What do you stand for besides having your heads stuck so far up your “brotherly love”, “compassionate Konservative” asses that you can’t see reality for all the s**t and stink you’ve created?
August 15th, 2005 at 1:49 pmNot really clear what that has to do with this thread AR. you going to debate something, or just post insults?
August 15th, 2005 at 1:50 pmJesus,
Try reading the book “100 People That Are Screwing Up America”. It is very enlightening.
August 15th, 2005 at 1:51 pmLOL,
sure right after you read stupid white men AR.
again off topic. you have anything to add , or you just trying to bait?
August 15th, 2005 at 1:55 pmAlways Wrong
Just because you lick ass, don’t ask us to oblige also.
August 15th, 2005 at 1:55 pmRummy leaves, and Always Wrong shows up.
Either this is the clumsiest secret identity since Superman stuck on that pair of glasses, or a demonstration of the Law of Conservation of Twits.
August 15th, 2005 at 1:58 pmYes our soldiers need our support. That means they need all the proper gear to get them home safely. It also means that we should be sending care packages to our troops.
They don’t want that. They want a free ride home, NOW! And that’s what they deserve. And that’s all the support they need. If Halliburton wants to stay on with their mercs from CACI, Titan & Blackwater, et. al., they are welcome to it.
August 15th, 2005 at 2:00 pmTry reading the book “100 People That Are Screwing Up Americaâ€. It is very enlightening.
I tried reading it but it made me nauseous.
August 15th, 2005 at 2:01 pmthe error in the 100 people book is it does not include George W. bush, condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul wolfowitz, Dick Cheney and many others.
August 15th, 2005 at 2:03 pmIs that the reason for the NYTimes letting Bush get away with murder (literally) — they are schizophrenic!
August 15th, 2005 at 2:07 pmWhat did the Republicans stand for besides bashing Kerry?
And all wounded veterans. Purple band-aids? No wonder they are blaming Casey Sheehan for dying for his country. He was a bad soldier or he would have died “right”.
August 15th, 2005 at 2:20 pmYeah neocons, remember the band-aids?
At least Kerry served his country instead of getting out of his duty.
Remember what the Rove machine did to John McCain during the primaries. Another decorated vet and they smeared him to peices.
Republicans hate veterans!
August 15th, 2005 at 2:28 pmThey even smeared Max Cleland, and he left most of his pieces in ‘Nam. They have no shame, no defense, no justification. Kill them all. God will recognize his own, and send them all to hell.
August 15th, 2005 at 2:35 pmDueling Headlines
Just wanted to point your attention to this summary of the New York Times’ schizophrenic articles over the weekend:
August 15th, 2005 at 3:07 pm#48
If you don’t want other opinions or ideas on this post, your webmaster should be smart enough to design it so that any post not meeting the mission of this blog, would not get posted. I guess you guys aren’t as smart as you think.
August 15th, 2005 at 4:23 pm#50
Disabled Danger,
It’s a given the troops don’t want to be there. Nobody likes being shot at. They, however, don’t get the choice. Part and parcel of the service. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to show up.
As for the care packages, when I’ve sent them to a friend of mine’s unit, they have always been happy to get them. It lets them know they aren’t forgotten. That’s more important than anything to them. They can’t help the fact that they are there. It’s our responsibility at home to fight to bring them home.
August 15th, 2005 at 4:28 pm#58, if the mission of this blog is to expose the stupidity of the RIGHT, then allowing you to post fits that mission perfectly.
August 15th, 2005 at 4:45 pmIt’s a given the troops don’t want to be there. Nobody likes being shot at. They, however, don’t get the choice. Part and parcel of the service. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to show up.
Unless you happen to be a Bush, in which case you’re allowed to sit out the war getting plastered in Mexican whorehouses.
August 15th, 2005 at 4:47 pmSo if it’s junk made in China or Japan the troops can get it right away. If it’s important and made in America they’ll have to wait a few more months. Makes sense.
August 15th, 2005 at 5:15 pmI bet those under-armored amphibious beach landers have bitchin’ sound systems.
August 15th, 2005 at 7:23 pmRummy should be fired – two years ago! There is no rationale for keeping him in place except that he is Bush’s man and loyalty trumps all. Everything/everyone else makes no difference.
August 15th, 2005 at 7:28 pmWhen I saw how the ‘pubs smeared veterans and denigrated their service while praising the chckenhawks who were so determined to send our soldiers to war, it only served to lower even more my already low estimation of the conservatives.
This latest news about armor is a portrayal of the decadence that prevails in this administration, the greed, the selfishness, the disregard for human life. Someone on this post recently compared them to the corporations and the soldiers are the workers – the bottom line is all that is considered, workers are expendable, safety considerations are unnecessary, it is only important that they get their bonuses, golden parachutes, and keep their stockholders happy.
That’s the mindset of this administration and Rummy’s DOD. They are the CEOs.
Rummy agrees with you Marie. As he told Ted Kennedy, he tried to resign twice.
August 15th, 2005 at 7:51 pmWhere else can one “try to resign” and be unsuccessful?
August 15th, 2005 at 8:03 pmWhere else? Saddam’s regime, for one. But Saddam and Rumsfeld have quite a history together as well. We know Bush has adopted some of Saddam’s tactics in gathering intelligence and quelling discontent. I’m sure human resources got the memo, too.
August 15th, 2005 at 9:53 pm‘fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here”. I humbly ask any conservative who adheres to this idea to please explain what the heck it is supposed to mean? They can’t come to America and “get us” until we leave first? They (who are they?) will only go where we tell them? They are too stupid to know where America is so we tricked them into meeting us in Iraq (the terrorist are a lot dumber than I thought)? They are having too much fun in Iraq right now and if we leave they will get bored and come looking for us- kind of like terrorist hide and seek? They only had enough money for one plane ticket, so it was either Iraq or America, and Iraq was cheaper? Oh wait, I think I got it, they don’t think it would be fair to go to America right now, because all our military personal are gone overseas and so it wouldn’t be right to attack America while it is defenseless? Am I on the right track, its really confusing?
Please help, I am racking my brain trying to figure this one out. Any smart republicans can clue me in?
August 16th, 2005 at 11:08 amSo now I thinking maybe it is sort of like bull riding at the rodeo. Like when the cowboy falls off the bull, you have to send in all these clowns with funny clothes and face make-up and padded shorts to run around and flap there arms so the bull doesn’t notice the cowboy anymore. The bull just keeps running around in circles grunting and looking stupid because he can’t figure out which clown’s ass to stick his horns in? The terrorists are the bull, and the military are the clowns protecting the cowboys?
Am I close? Come on seriously conservative dude types, help me out here. Really, tell me.
“Over there not over here..”,it sounds so cool, is it some kind of terrorists code of honor thing from the Quoran?
August 16th, 2005 at 11:32 amWhen you question the “over there” theory, they just look at you like you’re too dumb to understand geopolitics.
Go to ifilm.com, click on “warzone” and watch the “mercenary sniper” video. No blood, but it does show a Blackwater security team — not soldiers, these are Halliburton employees — on a Baghdad rooftop shooting people with a high powered rifle. So every they say, “Guy running, white shirt (bang)” say to yourself, “That was a close one, he almost got on a plane in NYC!”
August 16th, 2005 at 11:54 amHi! What you do today by evening?
December 1st, 2005 at 12:16 amHey, here’s an idea: Let’s support them while they’re there, but wish them home where the threat isn’t as large.
December 1st, 2005 at 1:53 pmHi
January 17th, 2006 at 1:16 pmWho can answer my question?
The way that this is done it just like eating ants that my brother ate when he was in Iraq.
October 25th, 2006 at 4:14 pmI think that they are there because they are protecting us and keeping the USA safe from the bad guys that are trying to attack the country!
October 25th, 2006 at 4:16 pm