Casey: Obama's Shortages Claim Plausible

WASHINGTON — Gen. George Casey, the Army's chief of staff, said Tuesday he has no reason to doubt Barack Obama's recent account by an Army captain that a rifle platoon in Afghanistan didn't have enough soldiers or weapons. But he questioned the assertion that the shortages prevented the troops from doing their job.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Casey said the incident would have occurred in 2003 and 2004 following the Iraq invasion. He said he remembers it as a "difficult time" trying to rush armor and other equipment to the troops.

"I have no reason to doubt what it is the captain said," Casey said. "This was 2003 and 2004, almost four and a half years ago. We acknowledge and all worked together to correct the deficiencies that we saw in that period, not only in Afghanistan but in Iraq. It was a period that we worked our way through."

During a Democratic debate last week, Obama said an Army captain remembered leading a platoon in Afghanistan that was short on men, ammunition and humvees.

"They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief," Obama said.

Obama's account prompted denials from the Pentagon. In a letter to Obama, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., demanded the name and whereabouts of the captain so he could investigate the matter.

Obama campaign has declined to release the name of the captain, citing the soldier's privacy.

"I find that account pretty hard to imagine," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman after the debate.

Casey said the Army has purposefully not tried to seek out the captain individually. But he did contact the platoon's brigade commander, which belonged to the 10th Mountain Division, and reviewed the division's readiness reports.

Casey said the brigade was manned at 100 percent during its entire deployment, but that it is possible a particular platoon within the brigade was not manned at the desired level.

"There may have been some spot shortages in spare parts and ammunition," he said. "But the commander said that there were never a shortage of ammunition that impacted the units ability to accomplish its mission."

Comments

[rroy]

01:30 PM on 02/27/2008

God I am sick and tired of these bemedaled,bestarred Militarists,and their useless pontificating.

The ones that get me the most are the ones that appear on TV wearing Combat Fatigues,with medals!It's probably been so long since they fired a shot in combat,if they ever did at all,that they'd deficate in their depends if they had to do it tomorrow.

And then there'sthe current head of the CIA,who's name happily escapes me.Although he is serving a civilian office he will not be caught dead in civilian clothes and without his fruit salad covered left chest.

I wonder if all that shit is tatooed on him!

We sure as hell don't seem to be experiencing a shortage of this useless,quite often double dipping, citizenry.

[BrooklynLager]

03:12 PM on 02/27/2008

Porter Goss is his name - he cracks me up too.

[alfrede]

01:12 PM on 02/27/2008

Hi,

Once again we have a situation where three and four star officers would rather stay in uniform and try to "fix" the system rather than resign their commissions in protest.

What usually happens, unfortunately, is that the "system" is not "fixed" but continues on as usual.

What do U think??

[rollingdivision]

11:11 AM on 02/27/2008

Finally, a reliable source for the Obama related antidote. But it is a 5 year old story and not a current issue.

[BrooklynLager]

03:13 PM on 02/27/2008

The reliable source was the Captain himself - a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff nodding his head is not a source at all.

[realitytrumpsbull]

05:21 AM on 02/27/2008

I think the Army is becoming/has become its' own worst enemy. An army, if you've ever played any kind of war game, is just an 'arm' of government, hence the name. The army is the hand. The brigades and so forth on down to the soldiers roughly equal the fingertips. UnFORtunately, as one would expect, following this analogy, the Army also has dirty 'fingers'.
Or, GREASY fingers, more to the point, probably related to too many years digging around in the 'parts bin' of Germany. I still haven't quite fathomed out why they took away my favorite truck(M35A2), but as you can probably tell, I AM 'working the problem'. General Donut needs to turn out his pocket, for lucky spiders and Large Sums Of Government Money, there. Hmmm...recalibrate antennae...

[nunzia]

01:33 AM on 02/27/2008

Disgusting.
Really disgusting.
How do these people,
these so-called"leaders",
sleep at night?

[realitytrumpsbull]

05:29 AM on 02/27/2008

nunzia, you're in the right zip code, but you're not at the front door. They are half-asleep. It comes from the physiological problems related to having your butt planted in a chair 8 hours a day instead of walking around and seeing things with your own 2 eyes. Generals are supposed to INspect, and INTRO-spect, General Donut there isn't getting the 'big picture' 'cause you can't see it through a computer screen. Army maintenance mismanagement was a part of this. You can care all you want, but until you go lay hands on the troops and their equipment, you don't really understand the problems they're having. Since our military has been improperly employed the last 40 years trying to FORCE democracyererey,
they're too far away for general donut to get to easily, hence the dis-connect. UUU larna da enreissss! Soichiro!

[mrcontinental]

11:53 PM on 02/26/2008

Casey knew that if he tried to lie a TON of ex Iraq/Afghan vets like myself who would have hung him out to dry. There was a lot of buzz going on in the service organizations about making a coordinated response to defend the captain and if necessary give names and units without remaining anonymous, but he did the right thing to come out and acknowledge that there were ISSUES and not to make this about politics.

Hopefully people can leave this very sensitive issue for many of us OUT of this election cycle now because many of us are still VERY bitter about the piss poor planning and execution.

[LoRiseAntlers]

12:59 AM on 02/27/2008

Why would you want this to be left out of this election cycle?There should be a coordinated media campaign informing the public how these people have treated our service members,especially those in combat situations.
I don't care if it's somewhat better now,because it shouldn't have to be better.

[mrcontinental]

09:26 AM on 02/27/2008

Because politics will only taint it more and make this situation REALLY ugly. Nobody gave a damn prior to this election cycle so leave it alone now. When the army breaks then the whole truth will come out, and it will not be pretty.

[springsm]

08:48 PM on 02/26/2008

Seems like Casey is trying to be truthful without giving too much away. That is a good start.

[forpeace]

08:31 PM on 02/26/2008

*

Is he really the Army's chief of staff?????!!!!!!!!

No wonder the Surge is NOT working!

Hey General, use your energy, time and tax payers money to do just your job.

*

[rabrophy]

07:36 PM on 02/26/2008

Typical Army Bullshit! It might have happened but long ago and everything is just fine now.
I was a Marine in Vietnam and this is a trip down memory lane for me.
The "Officer Corps" has lied to the American people and sold out the soldiers for Cheney/Bush. Every General officer should be removed by the next president.

[lynnn]

10:57 PM on 02/26/2008

No they shouldn't be removed, there's been rumors (Hersh) that the Army Marines and Navy have been trying for months to neutralize Bush's influence/ negative effects. To me it's a big sign that he's even saying anything.

[realitytrumpsbull]

05:40 AM on 02/27/2008

The Army has its' own 'immune system', of sorts, but as long as they're getting a steady stream of poison from the Body, they're going to keep doing the 'funky chicken'. Impeachment. Paging Dr. Paul, paging Dr. Paul, your patient is ready for his medicine, now.

Set the federal budget at ZERO dollars to shut down the concantenated spending problems. If a system is busted, you gotta shut it off and fix it. Pull the 'stop' handle, set the chock blocks, Un-dog the hood, prop it back, and find out what's going on, here...there's a largish red puddle under the transmission, and strange
mechanical noises coming from the front of the vehicle, and it appears as though the 'driver' has not been trained to military standards. A connection? Loose wire that'll shock your a$$, more likely...that, and other problems. Maintenance! Woohoo! Gearheads to the rescue!
The US Army itSELF doesn't have a technical manual to refer to, to diagnose and troubleshoot corruption in the officer corps...hence the extended time in the shop...but I think I know what it's going to take to fix their little red wagon. All the army officers in logistics need to turn out their pockets, and check for lucky spiders.

[realitytrumpsbull]

05:33 AM on 02/27/2008

rab, in through the nose, out through the mouth, there, Range Rider, Army's a system, but doesn't have a designated systems design guy with no 'lucky spiders' on him to walk around and IN-spect the OUTside. The reason that Uncle Sam is burning his hand on the stove right now is that the 'nerves' aren't working properly.
That's why our military 'stratamegemnity' is all booo-gered up, and Uncle Dick has been able to siphon so many blevitty-zillions. Uncle Dick may not be the Bad Thing, here, but I'll bet a quarter that he knows where 'it' sleeps. Clap that bastard in irons and pull him before Congress under the articles of impeachment provided in our Consitushonnimememenenerrrer.er.
LOL

[research]

07:35 PM on 02/26/2008

Obama got the gist of it. What is the problem?

Kucinich is my candidate, the Corporatist MSM didn't even let him debate. Ron Paul can't win, Neverland Nader can't win.

HRC is a tough street fighting politician. That's the world she grew up in. It's not serving her well, but please name a president who didn't use Negative campaigning.

Obama is my choice. He has the charm and oratorical skills the every president has had. Yet Obama also has the issues down.

If your mind is still open, listen to this video of Obama being interviewed by the SF newspaper board. Just issues.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/01/20/EDIAUHASH.DTL&o=0

[MRb1000]

07:33 PM on 02/26/2008

People just can not handle the truth. Barack told the truth!!!

The truth will win this election.

[Nolawi]

06:32 PM on 02/26/2008

here is a rebuttle
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4333572

[Tyrione]

06:19 PM on 02/26/2008

Amazing. The actual Lieutenant clarified the mistakes Obama made, but this General clearly knows the guy's brain better than he does.

Casey should do his job and if he can't manage to do anything else but play politics while as a General than he's not fit for command.

[TheRealMacDaddy]

01:43 PM on 02/27/2008

What mistake??? "The captain said, however, that the unit did not go after the Taliban for the purpose of getting their weapons, but sometimes used those weapons when some were captured." ABC News.com

Sen, Obama said, "They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief,"

Sen. Obama did not say the Platoon was targeting the enemy just to get weapons. As a retired U.S. Army First Sergeant who spent nearly half of my career with the U.S. Army Rangers, I can tell you for a FACT that captured enemy weapons are easier to get than a resupply of official issue arms.

The point of the issue that Sen. Obama was trying to bring out with this discussion is, was and will still be that the unjust War in Iraq caused soldiers in Afganistan (where the real Al Quaida enemy is) to have to do their mission with inadequate supplies, arms and ammo.

[midtown]

06:01 PM on 02/26/2008

A reporter (can't remember who) got in touch with the Obama campaign the next day and they put him in touch with the soldier, WHO CONFIRMED THE STORY.

[Tyrione]

06:20 PM on 02/26/2008

No. He mostly confirmed that Obama got the gist of it. He clarified on several points where he embellished that wasn't factually correct.

[hippybaby1970]

05:28 PM on 02/26/2008

captainobvious, where can i get more info on bush's south american ranch? i heard something about it previously. i would appreciate it.