Guambat Stew: Rumsfeld: Support the troops

"It has been 11 months since Congress ordered the Defense Department to reimburse soldiers and their families for out-of-pocket combat equipment expenses, but the law is being ignored. Pentagon officials say they are still "working on" details of a reimbursement policy, and should have something by the end of the year. How many U.S. soldiers will die, because they were improperly equipped, between now and the end of the year?" http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2005/10/03/sections/opinion/100205b.txt

"The US President, George Bush, last October signed into law legislation requiring the Pentagon to set rules by February 25 for reimbursing American troops, their families and charities as much as $US1100 ($1442) for the purchase of protective, health and safety gear to use in those war zones." http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/troops-demand-some-action-from-pentagon/2005/10/04/1128191719592.html

"During Operation Iraqi Freedom, inadequate body armor was issued to thousands of troops. I know -- I was one of them. I commanded thirty-seven infantrymen who rode into Baghdad in the spring of 2003 with outdated, inferior flak jackets. Later I learned that as many as 40,000 other Troops went to Iraq with the same substandard gear. One of them was Spc. Richard Murphy, who said, “When my company landed in theatre in May, I was one of the few soldiers equipped with body armor effective at stopping powerful AK-47 ammunition. My mother, an elementary school art teacher, shipped the bullet-proof ceramic plates to me from the States. Other soldiers weren't so lucky, having to raid buildings and patrol dangerous streets while wearing