corrente

I'm still waiting for Bush to issue that executive commending the parents who bought their children in Iraq body armor, and commending the Chambers of Commerce who built armor for the HumVees. Commending them, and reimbursing them. Say, it would be nice if some Dem introduced a bill to that effect, eh?

Anyhow, The Times actually does some excellent reporting on Bush's farcical inability to get the troops armored for his war of choice in Whack.

Body armor was given the same status as socks:

In the case of body armor, the Pentagon gave a contract for thousands of the ceramic plate inserts that make the vests bulletproof to a former Army researcher who had never mass-produced anything. He struggled for a year, then gave up entirely. At the same time, in shipping plates from other companies, the Army's equipment manager effectively reduced the armor's priority to the status of socks, a confidential report by the Army's inspector general shows. Some 10,000 plates were lost along the way, and the rest arrived late.

And the vehicles still aren't armored:

Soldiers are still jury-rigging protection for their trucks and Humvees

It still goes on... Two years and 1500 deaths in. Unbelievable? All too believable.

I can't help but make the connection between Bush's failure to protect the troops in Iraq, with his failure to protect citizens here at home. After all, what are Social Security, the minimum wage, bankruptcy protection from high medical bills, and the New Deal safety net, but armor—armor against the shocks that life can give any and all of us?