Surge Sends Troops Into Harms Way Without Proper Equipment

Following up on an armor shortage story we blogged on last week, Army and Marine Corp leaders are testifying before the House Armed Service Committee, and their quotes (from the WAPO) are shocking:

"The response would be slower than we might like, we would not have all of the equipment sets that ordinarily would be the case, and there is certainly risk associated with that" 

-Marine Corps commandant, Gen. James Conway

"my concerns [regarding readiness[ are increased over what they were in June."

"To meet combatant commanders' immediate wartime needs, we pooled equipment from across the force to equip soldiers deploying in harm's way.  This practice, which we are continuing today, increases risk for our next-to-deploy units and limits our ability to respond to emerging strategic contingencies."

-Army Chief of Staff Peter J. Schoomaker

The Bush Administration seems perpetually doomed to repeat its mistakes, and VoteVets new ad speaks to the consequences of this most recent reckless decision: