Monday, November 15, 2004
Santa Sam to "Any Soldier": Fuck You
This story ran on ABC Nightly News and is running on the half-hour as I write, on ABC World News Now. Several Googlesearches have not, for some reason, turned up a transcript so you're going to have to take my word for this outrage.
You know those campaigns, run by everybody from Dear Abby to random people everywhere, to get folks to gather up "care packages" to be sent to "Any Soldier"? They run constantly but always get huge around Holiday time.
Well, it seems they ain't getting shipped this year.
The Pentagon has ruled that getting these packages to troops in the field is just too much of a hassle. The only packages or mail that will be allowed into the system must have a specific name, rank and serial number--or at least name, unit, and precise destination.
They told the story of a man who was killed in the qWagmire. His family asked in his obituary that "in lieu of flowers" people should instead donate supplies to help others in his team, or any soldier anywhere.
Within days hundreds of packages were assembled. Then they hit this brick wall of bureaucratic crapola. It took the combined intervention of the Red Cross, their congressman, their Senator and probably God Himself to persuade the Pentagon to get stuff like Chap-Stik, bug spray and baby wipes actually delivered to the intended recipients.
Stuff sent without such intervention, it seems, is just being sent to the Dead Letter Office. Into a warehouse somewhere was the implication, but in any case not into the hands of soldiers who might have a need for them, and would get a little bit of a boost by knowing that total strangers were rooting for them, cared about them regardless of politics, wanted to do something to help them through a rough time.
And the Pentagon says: nope. This would clog up the supply lines, this human-needs, home-front support shit.
Hell, for all I know they're right. From Lt. Gen. Whoozit's point of view, the trucks need to be carrying ammunition resupply. That convoy duty is hazardous shit, you want somebody to get killed carrying feel-good teddy bears and letters from strangers when they're liable to get blown up at any random curve in the road?
It is probably a cognative dissonance they really wish we'd shut up about: The official line is we're WINNING, dammit! Corners have been turned! We have conquered Faloujah, killed or captured all those insurgents! With not nearly as many casualties as D-Day required, so stop complaining! The country is pacified now, or nearly so, we're almost there, don't you understand?
It's just a little too hazardous still to be able to have mail delivery, that's all.
You know those campaigns, run by everybody from Dear Abby to random people everywhere, to get folks to gather up "care packages" to be sent to "Any Soldier"? They run constantly but always get huge around Holiday time.
Well, it seems they ain't getting shipped this year.
The Pentagon has ruled that getting these packages to troops in the field is just too much of a hassle. The only packages or mail that will be allowed into the system must have a specific name, rank and serial number--or at least name, unit, and precise destination.
They told the story of a man who was killed in the qWagmire. His family asked in his obituary that "in lieu of flowers" people should instead donate supplies to help others in his team, or any soldier anywhere.
Within days hundreds of packages were assembled. Then they hit this brick wall of bureaucratic crapola. It took the combined intervention of the Red Cross, their congressman, their Senator and probably God Himself to persuade the Pentagon to get stuff like Chap-Stik, bug spray and baby wipes actually delivered to the intended recipients.
Stuff sent without such intervention, it seems, is just being sent to the Dead Letter Office. Into a warehouse somewhere was the implication, but in any case not into the hands of soldiers who might have a need for them, and would get a little bit of a boost by knowing that total strangers were rooting for them, cared about them regardless of politics, wanted to do something to help them through a rough time.
And the Pentagon says: nope. This would clog up the supply lines, this human-needs, home-front support shit.
Hell, for all I know they're right. From Lt. Gen. Whoozit's point of view, the trucks need to be carrying ammunition resupply. That convoy duty is hazardous shit, you want somebody to get killed carrying feel-good teddy bears and letters from strangers when they're liable to get blown up at any random curve in the road?
It is probably a cognative dissonance they really wish we'd shut up about: The official line is we're WINNING, dammit! Corners have been turned! We have conquered Faloujah, killed or captured all those insurgents! With not nearly as many casualties as D-Day required, so stop complaining! The country is pacified now, or nearly so, we're almost there, don't you understand?
It's just a little too hazardous still to be able to have mail delivery, that's all.
