Kudos to Sam Hunter for pointing this out to me. To those who saw H&C - where Soltz managed to ignore Hunter's facts, much to his detriment - here is a rebuttal to that.
All the more reason we need Hunter in office!
Posted on 03/29/2007 12:13:34 PM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
“You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld, December 8, 2004
_________________________________________________________
Bill Clinton Weakened America -- by Michael Reagan
On Friday night, Rep. Duncan Hunter, former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and now its ranking Republican member, appeared on the Hannity and Colmes show on Fox, and I was astonished to hear him castigated for failing to see that our troops in Iraq needed equipment.
He was specifically challenged on matter of the alleged lack of body armor for our troops in Iraq, and the administration’s alleged failure to ensure that our troops had the protection the armor affords them.
Ignored were certain inconvenient facts such as the amount of body armor that was available under Bill Clinton, which was zero. Today under President Bush and thanks to Duncan Hunter’s work in the Armed Services Committee, which authorized the funds to purchase the body armor, the armed services have one million sets of body armor. That’s one million!
It’s puzzling to see the media ignore the disastrous cutbacks in our armed services that took place under Bill Clinton, and the extraordinary efforts of the Bush administration and Hunter’s committee to beef up our military.
Under Clinton, for example, the number of armored Humvees available to the military was a pitiful 1,300. Under President Bush it’s over 26,000.
And it was not just Clinton who sapped our strength – Congress under the Democrats has just turned thumbs down on the Pentagon’s request for $4.75 billion for the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles that can safeguard our troops from the IED explosions which are responsible for a large part of the deaths and wounding of our soldiers and Marines.
Instead of funding that vital request in the $124 billion supplemental bill passed this week, the Democrats were able to find billions for such things as subsidies for spinach farmers and the shrimp industry, but not a dime for a vehicle that could save the lives of thousands of our troops in Iraq.
It’s instructive to look at what happened to the 1st Cavalry Division under Bill Clinton and what its strength is today under George Bush.
In 2000, the division had three brigades, – M1A2 (base-design Abrams tanks, Bradley A2 (base-design tanks), the situational awareness of the battlefield was provided solely by soldiers on the ground calling in spot reports, communications were by line-of-sight radio, there was no armor protection for Humvees, there was no connectivity between services, and the brigades had a mere 1,600 radios.
In 2006, however, the division had four brigades with more maneuver-capable companies. They had the M1A2 System Enhancement Package including improved armor, independent thermal sights, and embedded digital command systems. Their Bradley A3 tanks had improved armor, and embedded digital command systems. Battlefield situational awareness was enhanced by unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicles (UAVs) integrated by Army Battle Command Systems (Network Centric Warfare). Communications were by a digital command-and-control network, including satellites. All Tactical Wheeled Vehicles off the forward operating bases were to be armored and radios in a Brigade numbered 2,500.
The facts is that this president, along with Duncan Hunter and others, sought to give the military all the equipment they need because when they came in there was no equipment thanks to the skeltonizing of our armed forces under Bill Clinton.
Under Bill Clinton we heard such horror stories as our soldiers and sailors going without essential training because equipment was broken and there were no parts to fix it. There were reports of maintenance crews “cannibalizing” other pieces of equipment to make Band-Aid repairs on equipment that has worn out.
One observer warned that because no new tanks were purchased in 1995, there was a clear danger that by 2005 the tanks available would be older than the soldiers driving them. Thanks to President Bush and Duncan Hunter that was not allowed to happen.
Under President Clinton our military was drastically downsized. Under the new Democratic leadership in Congress our troops are now being denied the funding they need to prevail in Iraq.
Once again I have to ask why they want us to lose another war. Wasn’t losing in Vietnam enough?
Kudos to Sam Hunter for pointing this out to me. To those who saw H&C - where Soltz managed to ignore Hunter's facts, much to his detriment - here is a rebuttal to that.
All the more reason we need Hunter in office!
To Soltz's detriment, I should clarify.
BTTT
*************
Hunter is a good man. I would love to see him get the nomination.
I saw Duncan Hunter and he didn't let up on Soltz, it was GREAT!!!
I know. Soltz came as a loud-mouthed fool.
My father is dedicated 100% to making sure that our troops have what they need. This article explains the facts, thank you Ultra Sonic 007 for posting.
No problem. Wouldn't be doing all of this for free if I didn't think this was a man worth supporting. ;)
IMO, your father is America's last chance to remain free and sovereign. There is not one other candidate worthy of that distinction.
"IMO, your father is America's last chance to remain free and sovereign. There is not one other candidate worthy of that distinction."
South Central Texas Dittos!
Absolutely. Kudos to Michael Reagan for setting it straight!!
If I had a better praise than that, I would offer it. Must feel good to have the son of the presidential candidate say that about you, in public, as a freeper. Keep up the good work.
Here's another article on this. Maybe it should be posted, at least it wouldn't be in 'bloggers' and someone might see it.
Clinton Weakened America
http://www.maysville-online.com/articles/2007/03/29/opinion/local_columns/9995reagan.txt
The Ledger Independent
Thursday, March 29, 2007 5:38 PM EDT Email this story
Michael Reagan
On Friday night, Rep. Duncan Hunter, former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and now its ranking Republican member, appeared on the Hannity and Colmes show on Fox, and I was astonished to hear him castigated for failing to see that our troops in Iraq needed equipment.
He was specifically challenged on matter of the alleged lack of body armor for our troops in Iraq, and the administration’s alleged failure to ensure that our troops had the protection the armor affords them.
Ignored were certain inconvenient facts such as the amount of body armor that was available under Bill Clinton, which was zero. Today under President Bush and thanks to Duncan Hunter’s work in the Armed Services Committee, which authorized the funds to purchase the body armor, the armed services have one million sets of body armor. That’s one million!
It’s puzzling to see the media ignore the disastrous cutbacks in our armed services that took place under Bill Clinton, and the extraordinary efforts of the Bush administration and Hunter’s committee to beef up our military.
Under Clinton, for example, the number of armored Humvees available to the military was a pitiful 1,300. Under President Bush it’s over 26,000.
And it was not just Clinton who sapped our strength n Congress under the Democrats has just turned thumbs down on the Pentagon’s request for $4.75 billion for the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles that can safeguard our troops from the IED explosions which are responsible for a large part of the deaths and wounding of our soldiers and Marines.
Instead of funding that vital request in the $124 billion supplemental bill passed this week, the Democrats were able to find billions for such things as subsidies for spinach farmers and the shrimp industry, but not a dime for a vehicle that could save the lives of thousands of our troops in Iraq.
It’s instructive to look at what happened to the 1st Cavalry Division under Bill Clinton and what its strength is today under George Bush.
In 2000, the division had three brigades, n M1A2 (base-design Abrams tanks, Bradley A2 (base-design tanks), the situational awareness of the battlefield was provided solely by soldiers on the ground calling in spot reports, communications were by line-of-sight radio, there was no armor protection for Humvees, there was no connectivity between services, and the brigades had a mere 1,600 radios.
In 2006, however, the division had four brigades with more maneuver-capable companies. They had the M1A2 System Enhancement Package including improved armor, independent thermal sights, and embedded digital command systems. Their Bradley A3 tanks had improved armor, and embedded digital command systems. Battlefield situational awareness was enhanced by unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicles (UAVs) integrated by Army Battle Command Systems (Network Centric Warfare). Communications were by a digital command-and-control network, including satellites. All Tactical Wheeled Vehicles off the forward operating bases were to be armored and radios in a Brigade numbered 2,500.
The facts is that this president, along with Duncan Hunter and others, sought to give the military all the equipment they need because when they came in there was no equipment thanks to the skeltonizing of our armed forces under Bill Clinton.
Under Bill Clinton we heard such horror stories as our soldiers and sailors going without essential training because equipment was broken and there were no parts to fix it. There were reports of maintenance crews "cannibalizing" other pieces of equipment to make Band-Aid repairs on equipment that has worn out.
One observer warned that because no new tanks were purchased in 1995, there was a clear danger that by 2005 the tanks available would be older than the soldiers driving them. Thanks to President Bush and Duncan Hunter that was not allowed to happen.
Under President Clinton our military was drastically downsized. Under the new Democratic leadership in Congress our troops are now being denied the funding they need to prevail in Iraq.
Once again I have to ask why they want us to lose another war. Wasn’t losing in Vietnam enough?
Mike Reagan, the eldest son of the late President Ronald Reagan, is heard on more than 200 talk radio stations nationally as part of the Radio America Network. E-mail comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com.
Thanks for posting this - I've got a few new talking points now. Duncan Hunter would make a great Commander In Chief!
GO DUNCAN HUNTER!!!
worth a post in the news I think.
"One observer warned that because no new tanks were purchased in 1995, there was a clear danger that by 2005 the tanks available would be older than the soldiers driving them. Thanks to President Bush and Duncan Hunter that was not allowed to happen."
We need another president who will look our for our troops, and the entire country.
Hunter is a Reagan conservative, so it is not surprising that Michael Reagan is his ally.
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