Money makes the world go round

But torture makes me sick.

Avedon Carol of The Sideshow shows what this war was really about... Greed:

At the NYT, some chump change:

"A North Dakota manufacturer has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan."

They deliberately endangered our troops for money. Harry Truman said war profiteers are traitors. You don't just fine traitors.

Exactly. Usually you line them up before a firing squad and shoot them. Shortchanging helmets? Why isn't this company getting to pay for care of the brain-damaged soldiers being brought back from Iraq? How about forcing the CEO to do community service at the local Disabled Veterans Association? WTF?

And speaking of assuming that all of us are with the Bush administration in this glorious adventure in Iraq, here is an utter dimwit representative declaring that Americans all really support torture:

When questioning Attorney General Michael Mukasey today, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) insisted that “99% of Americans would support” waterboarding, and emphasized that the Bush administration should “not be defensive about using” the technique:

In regard to interrogation techniques — and I know you’re going to be asked a lot of questions about that today — I just want to express the personal opinion that I hope the administration will not be defensive about using some admittedly harsh but nonlethal interrogation techniques, even techniques that might lead someone to believe they’re being drowned even if they’re not.

My guess is that 99 percent of the American people, if asked whether they would endorse such interrogation techniques to be conducted on a known terrorist with the expectation that information that might be derived from such interrogation would save the lives of thousands of Americans, that 99 percent of the American people would support such interrogation techniques.

As Paul Kiel points out, a recent CNN poll showed that 68% of Americans said waterboarding was torture, and 58% said the U.S. should not be allowed to use the technique against suspected terrorists.

Only cowards and those who are mortally afraid of their enemy need to use torture. We can get answers and information from people without debasing ourselves. For those who are tortured suffer, but those who torture are lost and become monsters themselves.

Torture is torture. And we are better than that.

Who cares if our soldiers' body armor doesn't work

As long as the business made money, that's the American way, right?

Bryan of Why Now? notes:

DHB Industries made millions off their single-source contract for military body armor, some of which was definitely not up to specifications, but ripping off Wall Street is the only reason for an indictment anymore.

Anybody remember the complaints of soldiers who were told they could not use their personal body armor in Iraq because it wasn't military issue, this after families had pitched in to buy them? And then they were told to use DHB's product?

DHB Industries (now Point Blank Solutions) cavalierly had a hand in killing our soldiers by selling a defective product. The top two executives are going to jail for "securities fraud, insider trading, tax evasion and other criminal offenses in a 21-count indictment".

It should be for murder.

This is what you get when you privatize parts of the military

You get bogged down bureaucratic snafus that threaten lives:

The body armor that West Seneca’s American Legion Post 735 bought for Marines in Iraq is gathering dust somewhere in dusty Anbar province, thanks to Marine Corps orders preventing its use.

And the local Legionnaires who spent nearly $6,000 for the state-of-the- art protective gear are none too happy about it.

“It’s asinine,” said Mark McMahon, whose purchase of the body armor for his son and two of his buddies prompted the Legion post to buy 20 sets for the West Seneca Marine’s entire unit.

“That body armor that’s sitting around somewhere could possibly save someone from serious injury or save a life,” said Charles “Phil” Kordos, the post commander.

Is this why they can't use the Spartan body armor?

Back on September 25, 2006, DefenseLINK announced that Protective Products International in Sunrise, FL had won a $33.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for 60,000 Modular Tactical Vests (MTVs) with associated training. The MTV is the US Marines' latest body armor vest, replacing the Interceptor OTV. Now Marine Times reports that Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee gave the new vest final approval on October 19.

Marines will start wearing it in February 2007, though it's reportedly only an interim solution over the next 3-4 years. It is a pound heavier than the Interceptor, but reportedly distributes its weight better and adds improved side protection.