Uneasy Rhetoric

It appears the debate about our soldiers and body armor rages on. John Cole quotes an article from Arizona about a soldier who is being shipped off to Iraq and encouraged to buy his own body armor.

Cole recalls Rumsfelds now famous quote about how “you don’t go to war with the army you want, you go with the army you have.”

In other circumstances I could agree with this statement. But, those circumstances involve war being foisted on the U.S. No matter how much they try, the administration will never build a convincing case for this war being reactionary. Afghanistan was a reaction. We took our own sweet time getting into Iraq. Since it was our timetable, there is no excuse for the poor equipment or lack of planning.

Rumsfeld may be right for a defensive war, but if you ask any general what you do when you plan an invasion of a country and when you have the ability to choose the timing of the attack, you would be best to go with the very best army you can get.

The fact that soldiers can purchase the body armor means that it is available. Given the overwhelming costs of this war and the fact that, as Cole points out and as Rumsfeld acknowledges, it is statistically no less dangerous in Iraq today than it was a year ago, I figure giving our soldiers a little bit of protection is a small price to pay.

Update: Kos picks up the story as well.