Screwing the Troops -- Again

About six months ago, the Pentagon announced that it would reimburse soldiers who purchased body armor from private companies -- probably due to the fact that it was an embarrassing situation to discover that not all the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were adequately supplied with the protection that the torso-covering armor and ceramic plates provided. Now, in a rather dizzying reversal, the Army is announcing that the use of privately-purchased body armor has been banned. Claims that the privately-produced armor may not live up to Army standards ring rather hollow when compared with the protection that troops get from no fucking body armor at all. The Army has gone so far as to announce that the beneficiaries of any soldier killed while wearing privately-purchased armor, such as Dragon Skin, may not receive the death benefits from their SGLI life insurance policies. Troops can also face potential disciplinary action for wearing non-government issue armor, no matter how much they (or their families) paid for it, or how much more effective they believe it is compared with the GI stuff (when they can even get that!).

This just sad, sick and sad and completely of a piece with the times in which we're living. The more this administration and the Fightin' 101st Keyboarders and the bedwetting chickenhawks with ribbons on their SUVs talk about how they "support the troops," the more the troops themselves get a righteous un-Vaselined screwing. People are getting killed, coming home maimed and wounded and scarred, their benefits are being cut, their families are not being adequately taken care of, and they are constantly being lied to and jerked around by demagoguing politicians and an administration that doesn't give two shits about them -- but fully expects them to back their policies and vote for them, election after election. Sick and sad and disgusting.

Just a thought: This latest anti-troop policy couldn't have anything to do with war-profiteering for defense contractors, or a possible lack of sufficient donations to the GOP by companies such as Pinnacle (makers of the popular Dragon Skin and Python Skin), could it? Naaaah. That's just crazy talk!