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Originally posted by zippadeedoodah:
Yes, we have tanks. There are a lot of reasons we didn't use them. As I said before, Humvees are jeep replacements. Their vulnerability makes them convenient targets. We have vehicles that have better armor now.
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I know that we have tanks but what you don't seem to understand is that we have humvees with no armor and we have humvees with armor. If you send our troops to drive around the streets of Iraq with th armored humvees then they would have had a better chance of surviving an IED.
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To use the excuse that things and people are going to get blown up no matter how much armor we have is irresponsible. You might as well say that they don't need to wear bullet proof vests untill someone shots at them and the type of bullet is determined. If they are going to get blown up anyway, as you say, then we might as well have sent them out there in Ford escorts or bicycles to save on fuel costs.
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Irresponsible if you have no background in military history; realistic if you do. It's why we don't have castles anymore...the explosive shells breached castle walls. Nuclear weapons pretty much make armor irrelevant. And if all we had to fight a war was ford escorts and bicycles, that's what we'd have to do. As far as bulletproof vests, it's a misnomer. It's actually "body armor" because there is no such thing as a bulletproof vest. A 30-06 can shoot through 3 feet of oak. A 12.7 mm round from a DShK heavy machine gun will punch through body armor without slowing down much. So, yes, we want soldiers to wear their body armor because it will protect them against small arms fire and small pieces of shrapnel, but no one is fooled into believing that any bullet will magically bounce off. When you're hit, it hurts regardless of what you're shot with. It's likely to break a rib, but it's better than nothing, except when it's 110 degrees outside.
So are you saying that you are free to act irresponsibly and expose our troops as long as you have a background in the military? That is nothing but hogwash and you know it. I thank tyou for your service and I am in debt to you for it but that does not give you or our President the right to act irresposibally and unnecessarily subject our troops to the dangers of battle and war.
Not to give our troops the proper protection from bullets and shrapnel because nothing we have can protect them from a nuclear is as dumb a statement as you have ever made. That is like saying that i,m not going to make my child wear a coat in the winter time because he is probably going to get cold anyway.
The fact that our troops would fight a war in Ford escorts and bicycles is what makes our soldiers great. No matter what the situation that they are given they always charge on. Our soldiers are the greatest in the world but just because they will fight proudly without armor doen't mean that they should. We owe it to aour troops to provide them with the needed protection to aid them in their missions and help increase the odds of them to one day return home to their families.
So you say that its ok to supply our troops with bullet proof vests (body armor) for small caliber bullets and shrapnel but its not ok to send them on a drive through the streets of Iraq with armored vehicles.
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To send a soldier to battle without armor because he/she is going to get shot or blown up anyway is total disrespect.
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This is about the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. All my soldiers were precious to me; however, they were not mine to save or give up. Sending people into harm's way is the most agonizing, gut-wrenching thing anyone can ever do. You look at the people assigned to you and realize some of them will die. Is it disrespectful for me to risk soldier's lives to recover another soldier's corpse? You have absolutely no comprehension of what it's like to be a soldier or an officer commanding soldiers. Your son is a marine, and God bless him. He had to volunteer, and convince the marines he was committed. But I'm grateful that a person like you is not leading them. Stay home and whine and complain; let the soldiers take soldier's risks and gain the self respect and pride due them from their service.
This may be the most idiotic thing that you have ever heard but
it is what you are saying. So since you think its the most idiotic thing that you hve ever heard and not the most idiotic thing that you have ever said then I would love to hear what you think is the most idiotic thing that you have ever said.