Who's To Blame

Marine Report Blames 100s of Deaths on Armored Vehicle Delays

The new MRAP(Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles are the solution to lowering Marine casualties in Iraq. At least that’s what the Associated Press’s article found on Fox News’s website of Franz J. Gayl’s report would have you believe. In the article his report blames upper level Marine generals failure to buy and field the expensive MRAP vehicles resulted in hundreds of deaths of Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. What the article fails to state is the Marine Corps’ policy and practice as a mobile amphibious force which the MRAP does not conform to. By increasing armor and ground clearance the vehicles sacrifice speed, maneuverability, and range, which are key to the Corps’ war fighting doctrine. Great if you are fighting an enemy that relies solely on mines but useless in a fast paced ground offensive. Heavy and with limited combat roles, as opposed to other vehicles in the Marines’ arsenal, they would have no place in the post Iraq/Afghanistan fleet.

Though they do increase survivability for the crew, these vehicles are just as vulnerable as any vehicle in Iraq to roadside bombs. This solves nothing unless our strategy is just to drive around and get blown up, and that is not a strategy the Marine Corps wishes to use. These vehicles are a short term solution to a long term problem. The Army, who fields thousands of the MRAPs, have begun to see that the enemy has already adapted to them. IEDs(improvised explosive devices) are not a static weapon, and will continue to change as our combat vehicles change. They are already capable of defeating any armor system we have. A perfect example of this is the M1A1 Abrams Tank, one of the most highly armored vehicles in the world. Several of these have been destroyed in Iraq by a variety of IEDs which also resulted in the deaths of some their crew. By increasing armor you increase the size of bomb needed to destroy the vehicle, which increases the danger and injuries of those using the heavily armored vehicles, but is a death sentence to those not using the vehicles, like our support troops and Iraqi allies.

Also, Spending millions of dollars on new vehicles shows that Washington has no intention of solving long term issues in Iraq. As a Marine I saw first hand our inability to overcome IEDs even with advanced technology. Throwing billions of dollars at one part of an issue does not solve the whole issue. A combat zone is a combat zone, dangerous and deadly. It is a place where people get hurt and die. The only way to stop casualties and deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan is to not be there. Marine Corps leadership should not be blamed, as this article would have you think, for the dangers of a combat zone or for thinking about what is best for the long term. The true blame rests squarely on those who continue to put service members in harms way.

A Few Little White Lies Never Hurt Anyone...

A politician lying isn’t really news anymore. We accept and justify it by telling ourselves “that’s just how it works.” But is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed? Apparently not. Recently The Center For Public Integrity complied a database of all the “false statements”, or less eloquently put, lies that the Bush Administration made leading up to the invasion of Iraq. The information they complied was not new or secret and was readily available to the public and officials. It shows all the false statements that the administration, from President Bush down, has made or released during their campaign of propaganda for the war in Iraq. Apparently we only need 935 lies to get us in the fightin’ mood. The President himself made over 500 of them. Some of the key falsities are listed in the main overview but you are also able to search through the database using any of the many search options. They also compiled the statistics into graphs that show the crescendo of lying just before the initial shock and awe campaign and the following ground offensive which continues today. Other graphs chart how public opinion was affected. You can read the overview and search the database yourself at:

Iraq: The War Card

It is important to see how this administration has made us the instigators of a war based completely on lies and have yet to suffer any repercussions. We, as those responsible need to decided what to do with this administration. Whether that’s demanding greater control over matters of war by congress, impeachment, legal punishment by our judicial system, or even turning these people over to the international war crimes tribunal. They have set a scary precedence for the U.S. We never had the moral high ground which use to justify this war. We preemptively invaded another country for no clear reason other then to kill some of them and make some of us rich. Not for our protection as we were told. If we continue to have no accountability for those we put in charge then we are telling our officials "hey its ok as long as you lie to us first." If nothing happens to these people then I guess we did let the terrorists win.