For Immediate Release
1/10/2006 4:40:00 PM

Little Rock, AR - In his remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, President Bush talked the continuing need to ensure the protection of Iraqi civilians. President Bush should be making a similar effort to protect American troops who are fighting to keep us safe.

According to an internal government report obtained by the New York Times, “80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor.” The Times went on to note that, “such armor has been available since 2003,” but the Pentagon declined to supply it to the troops despite “calls from the field for additional protection.”
[New York Times, 1/7/06]

General Wes Clark issued the following statement on the Bush’s Administration’s failure to properly and adequately equip our troops during wartime:

“This study is but the latest example of the Administration’s appalling disregard for the welfare and safety of our troops.

President Bush's rhetoric doesn't match the actions of his Administration, and unnecessary combat fatalities are the result. This is a clear case where Congressional investigation is warranted.

When were the needs for additional protection first expressed? Who knew what and when and why weren't necessary steps taken?

The American people deserve no less than full accountability and assurances that going forward our troops will not face unnecessary risks or danger caused by lack of resources, oversight or commitment from Washington."

I simply adore Gen. Clark.

I trust him! I would vote for him in a nano second. I have researched his past, present and his plans for a better future. It is a sparkling history!!

THE DNC should spend some REAL time checking out Gen. Clark as a possible candidate in 08. Forget Hillary. Forget Feingold. Forget Edwards. Let's get a PROVEN strong individual with ethics, principles and valued dreams for our once WONDERFUL NATION!!!

I served under President Carter. I would RE-enlist (if they'd take an old lady) for Gen. Clark!! THANK YOU TIM for putting this up!

PEACE to you all! GO GENERAL CLARK!!!!

PLEASE show the wisdom to continue putting Wes Clark front and center as a public face of the Democratic party.

I think we'd be foolish not to back Clark for the presidency in 2008. To me, he seems both our best choice to win, and the best chance to elect a true liberal who, partly because of his impeccable national security credentials, can also reach across the aisle and actually help to heal our grievously wounded country.

The Pentagon should be ashamed of themselves. Soldiers have been asking for proper armor since they entered that stinking rat-hole in the Earth (a.k.a. -Iraq).

Bush should be ashamed of himself. He's been mindlessly spending the taxpayer's hard earned money on a baseless and seemingly endless war, yet he couldn't find the time to send OUR troops the gear that could have potentially saved their lives. Lives that are constantly being lost, and many more at risk over this power-crazed little man's personal vendetta/quagmire.

The American people need to wake up and come to the realization that this is simply a man who thinks he's become a god. He honestly believes God wanted him to be the leader of this wonderful country. If that's truly the case, Osama bin Laden must be God...because Bush is playing right into the sandy little bastards grubby hands.

Bush: Impeach, Indict, IMPRISON!

Please sign the petition on Wes Clark's website. Demand body armor for our troops!
http://www.securingamerica.com

Wes Clark is the kind of leader we need in the Democratic party. He is straight forward, not afraid to make a stand and is for the right things. He has a heart for all people because everybody has needs, not just the ones that can put money in your coffers and he is not one the Washington bunch who seem to dance around on every issue. The main reason we need him is that he is not afraid of Bush and the Republican party,and really believes in this country and the people in it. Wes Clark is a leader unlike Bush, who is as lost as a ball in high weeds.

Wesley clark knows more than those clowns in charge now.

We need to protect those soldiers with every non lethal component necessary. We apparently have enough resources to send in drone aircraft to blow up entire families.

Sometimes the best offense is a good defense.

Thank you for posting this! I'm a Dem because of General Clark. Was registered Green until the primaries in '04 when I reregistered Dem to vote for Clark in CA. He keeps my hope alive during these dark times.

Wes Clark has my vote for President, Hillary does not

The points about body armor and proper equipment is a good start, but don't go far enough.
The Democrats should start an all out campaign to bring out the truth about the mistreatment of American military personnel, by their commander-in-chief and his cronies.
We need to talk about targeted payraises, lower enlisted families on food stamps, Republican schemes to curtail dependent benefits, and the change in command climate since 2000.
We also need to talk about the cutbacks in the Veteran's Administration and veteran's programs by the Bush administration.
Last, but not least there should be a congressional investigation into the quality of goods and services provided to military personnel, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, by war profiteering contractors.
Not only that, but the Democrats need to all get on the same sheet of music on this issue, no sell-outs on this. These kids are the sons and daughters of the working poor with the drive to improve themselves. They are among our best and brightest, and they deserve much, much better.

The comments about body armor are idiotic and political. My 15 months on the ground in Iraq, wearing that body armor, tells me that those of you who speak about "protecting the troops" have never calculated the extra weight it takes to "properly protect the troops". When it is 120 degrees, 15 pounds of extra gear makes you vulnerable. Gen Clark stop being a General when he became a politician. That's who is speaking to you in the article; the politician, not the General. Anyone who wants to debate the body armor fiasco, just find a grunt and he'll give you an earful. We have what we need folks. Stop using us as your little political tools. You don't give a damn about us, you just care now that there is an angle from which to attack President Bush. You disgust me.

One of the strategies that RNC workers use is to reduce everything to numbers and stistics. That takes the human being out of the picture. We see that hear with a person trying to get people to believe that he was in Iraq and that body armor doesn't help save soldiers lives or help with severe injuries. How low will they go to protect the incompetence of Bush and his gang? We already know these people don't care about our soldiers by their actions suporting them in the past. What a disgusting bunch of hipocrites.

100% Hell No to Hillary!!!

Clark and Gore would be a great pair to lead this country out of the Bush mess we are in.

We need a candidate who is not Republi-lite, who has enough backbone to stand up to the Republicans AND the DLC, who will tell it like it is, and is a "Give 'em Hell, Harry" campaigner.
We don't need no spaghetti-spined, afraid to defend himself much less anyone else, wishy washy, doesn't want to hurt Big Business' feelings, out-of-touch, pie-in-the-sky, so-far-out-in-left-field-he-ain't-even-on-the-same- planet, wimp.
Wusses need not apply.
You guys sort it out.

Tug,
This "soldier" is a Marine and did indeed spend 15 months in Iraq. I don't work for the RCN, but the fact that you can't imagine that somebody who was there diagrees with you shows how narrow minded you are. If you would like to debate on a personal level, let me know and we'll swap phone numbers and we can talk. Interested? Thought So.

Eric Smith (note that I use my name here and as my log in). I not that you use a handle. Hiding something?

I know first hand about the lack of body armor in the OIF and OEF theaters of operation. I am an Army Sergeant who saw first hand the effects of not having proper protective personal and vehicle armor. I have read recently that some soldiers in theater are going to receive new components to the existing body armor. I hope this is a trend that we will continue to see.

I know first hand about the lack of body armor in the OIF and OEF theaters of operation. I am an Army Sergeant who saw first hand the effects of not having proper protective personal and vehicle armor. I have read recently that some soldiers in theater are going to receive new components to the existing body armor. I hope this is a trend that we will continue to see.

I don't know about what the Bushies have done to the Marines, but I've seen the Army side of it, particularly the Reserves since I served as a Full-Time Unit Support Soldier(FTUS), before I retired.
If you examine the track record of the Bush administration and the Republicans, you will see lies being told to start a war by a bunch of VietMan era draft-dodgers, people getting fired for telling the truth about military readiness, a yes-man replacing a competent Army Chief of Staff, and a corrosive change in the command climate since 2000.
The Reserve call-ups were willy-nilly, and paid no attention to the readiness structure that was in place. The command that assessed the readiness of Reserve units was first ignored, and then dissasembled.
Reserve units were given short notice, then jerked around with last minute extensions of their refrad (release from active duty) dates. To add insult to injury, Army Reserve Units are support units who've been trained to provide services to soldiers, but their jobs have been taken over by war-profiteering cronies of the Bushies, and they hae been shoved into jobs that, in many cases, they were not properly trained for.
It's been proven that the Bush administration planned for the war months in advance, but they didn't plan for training for for equipment up-grades for units with obsolete equipment.
In the mean time back at the ranch, the Republicans were busy creating targeted pay raises, which using the excuse that the lower enlisted were being paid "commusurate with others their age" gave the lower enlisted a SMALLER PERCENTAGE increase in their already low pay. We have military families on food stamps for cat's sake! The Republicans are also cutting back the budget and services of the Veterans' Administration every chance they get in spite of the fact that they are creating more disabled vets than any time since the VietNam era.
It's the Democrats like Murtha and Reid who've been fighting this abuser of the military. They've even trashed one of their own who've stood up for the military.
The Bush administration with their "Democrats hate the military spin" have disparaged the honorable veterans who have stood up for the military, and fought for fair pay raises, better equipment and services for soldiers.
Actions speak louder than words, and the actions are proving that it is the draft-dodging, arrogant, Republicans who truley hate the military. The only use the Bushies have for the military is for photo-ops and cannon fodder.
Anyone who thinks the Republicans are loyal to the military is either badly misinformed or ignoring the facts.

To the phony who claims to have been in Iraq. No soldier, ex or active, would say that body armor was useless. You see a retired General trying to help save soldiers lives and prevent some serious injuries, and you think that is not a good thing because this general happens to be a Democrat. You call him a politician. What is Bush and Cheney, Martians? At least this General had the guts to go fight for his country in Vietnam. Bush, Cheney and your other tough talking guys that started this Iraq thing don't. If you are not working for the RNC, you are auditioning for them.There is nothing real about someone that doesn't want to help American soldiers that are in combat, well maybe a real jerk.