Thanks for the M.R.E.'s: "Letters published in Stars and Stripes and e-mail published on the Web site of Col. David Hackworth (a decorated veteran and Pentagon critic) describe shortages of water. One writer reported that in his unit, 'each soldier is limited to two 1.5-liter bottles a day,' and that inadequate water rations were leading to 'heat casualties.' An American soldier died of heat stroke on Saturday; are poor supply and living conditions one reason why U.S. troops in Iraq are suffering such a high rate of noncombat deaths?
The U.S. military has always had superb logistics. What happened? The answer is a mix of penny-pinching and privatization — which makes our soldiers' discomfort a symptom of something more general.
Colonel Hackworth blames 'dilettantes in the Pentagon' who 'thought they could run a war and an occupation on the cheap.' But the cheapness isn't restricted to Iraq. In general, the 'support our troops' crowd draws the line when that support might actually cost something. "
- posted by geoff @ #