Surprise! Helmets for Troops Substandard, So Bush Administration Orders More
Prepare to be disgusted.
At a time when a new acronym, TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), has entered the American lexicon because of injuries sustained to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the New York Times reports that not only are many combat helmets being given to our troops substandard, and not only was there a lawsuit about it, but the government actually placed an order with the same company for more helmets just days before the suit was settled.
A North Dakota manufacturer has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced, the company, Sioux Manufacturing of Fort Totten, was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year.
The issue at the heart of the suit were two former employees of the company who maintained (and never were disproved) that Sioux was not weaving their Kevlar at the mandated 35 by 35 thread per square inch count, but 34 by 34, and making up the weight difference by just applying more hardened resin. I think in anyone's book, that would be considered reason enough to never place a contract with the same company again. But, what's worse, that extra resin makes the helmets more brittle, which doesn't give the necessary head protection to the troops.
In the suit, it seems like everyone at the company knew what they were doing:
In the evidence in the suit were hundreds of daily inspection records showing repeated violations of the weaving standards, as well as tape recordings of six managers and employees' admitting covering up violations.
In a conversation Mr. Kenner secretly taped, Rhea Crane, quality assurance officer, worried "if we ever had someone get killed, and they decided to investigate because they thought maybe the helmet wasn't any good.""If we ever got audited," she said, "you know what they would do to us. Shut us down and fine us big time. Probably never see another government contract."
Oh, you think so, Mrs. "Quality Assurance Officer?" Well, lucky for you all at Sioux Manufacturing, the Bush administration is on the scene, where substandard products for the troops are awarded with MORE contracts! We've truly entered the Bizarro World.
Thankfully, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has taken up the case and written to Congress to investigate this matter. We at VoteVets.org fully support their call for an investigation, and we'll be doing more in the coming days to support their efforts.
There have been many, many things wrong with how the wars have been waged. I don't think I need to go through a litany of them. But, to me, there is no issue more tragic than how Donald "The Army You Have" Rumsfeld, and this administration have been absolutely and totally irresponsible -- indeed wreckless -- in how they go about protecting our troops at the most basic levels, from body armor, to Humvee armor, and now, to helmets.
As always, you can read more about this, and how the troops and veterans see this, at VetVoice.com
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If John Mcinsane is elected, Dumbya (jihad George) can hold back from attacking Iran, and let Mcinsane have that bit of fun!
Quality is not important! What is important is how fast the blood money is recycled back to the party coffers and politicians war chest!
Support the troops actually means support the war!
You can be somewhat respected if you do not support illegal wars, but you are 'fair game' if you do not support the troops!
This is just par for the course with Team Bush. The Air Force moves ahead with the Joint Strike Fighter program at $200,000,000 per plane, but can't be bothered to institute wartime production of basic combat equipment for troops.
The Army has been starved for too long. During the 1990s, 83% of deployed personnel were soldiers -- not marines or airmen or sailors. Yet the Army only got 23% of the DOD budget, less per warrior than the marine corps.
To read about MRAP vehicles taking their sweet time coming off the production line makes me ill.
MSNBC did an investigative piece on body armor in the spring of 2007 (better late than never, I guess.) I was horrified and stunned. Having now lost my ability to be stunned, I am only horrified that we still cannot provide our men and women in uniform the BEST POSSIBLE equipment.
Truth be told, I'm a pacifist in the sense that I believe war should be the last resort in this much, much too small world. But there will be war, I know. So we owe our military two things:
1. Never to waste them in an unjust war.
2. And, if we must go to battle, to give them everything they need to bring them home safe.
When we've got parents scrimping and saving to send their children body armor (and now, probably, helmets), there's something very, very wrong in the way we send our troops to war!
Not to mention that the initial troops going into Baghdad didn't have food rations and had to buy food and water from Iraqi vendors. Rummy forgot the old adage "an army travels on its stomach" or he just didn't care. I mean they had been planning the invasion for years and food rations and water weren't considered as necessary.
Jon- This stuff makes me supremely angry, and I'm sure there's much more that is being buried, that will never see the light of day. This troop-loving, transparent, Christian, moral, Republican government would never allow the complete truth to be exposed: that the troops are not only expendable, they are disposable. We have rampant war profiteering to thank for this.
A measly $2 mill to settle, and a brand new BushCo contract for $74 mill! WOW! What a deal!
Could this action by Sioux Manufacturing be considered traitorous, for willfully placing our troops in harm's way to further their profit margin? What do you legal eagles say?
Damnit! If I ever won the lottery jackpot, there are 2 or 3 issues I would take on single-handedly, and the abusive treatment of our troops by this maladministration, is one. In the meantime, kudos to you Jon, and thanks for all you do.
AND WHO SITS ON THE ARMED SERVICES COM (con) WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OVERSIGHT OF THE ARMED SERVICES????
THESE COMMITTEE MEMBERS HAVE PROVEN THEIR ALLEGIENCE TO THE WAR PROFITEERS.
HILLARY SHOULDN'T BE FIGHTING FOR THE NOMINATION BUY INVESTING HER OWN MONEY- SHE SHOULD BE SPENDING THIS MONEY ON HER LEGAL DEFENSE FOR DERELICITON OF DUTY AND TREASON!!!
This Ol' Bil supporter has hated Hilary since she began her criminal activities in the Senate! those who hate her for irrational reason are welcome to join US who have observed the Rational reasons to hate her- She's Dick in Drag!! when she said "i'm your Girl' she wasn't talking to US, but to her fellow Corporationists.
well said Purple Girl . ..
Purple,
I've often found your comments quite insightful, but I must disagree with you here. First, on the issue of the Armed Services Committee, many who now serve or have served on that committee have made significant efforts to provide the soldiers with what they need. Those efforts have, I agree, too often been thwarted by the Republicans, including the (P)resident, but they have been fighting for the soldiers and deserve credit where credit is due.
As for the whole "dynasty" thing, I've heard this enough to be sick of it! The PROBLEM of the "Bush I, Clinton, Bush II" cycle, has been the two Bushes! Each led us into an unnecessary, and potentially ILLEGAL war, each led our economy toward disaster, each lived in a bubble, and each got fat off the corporate connections they gained. WE NEEDED CLINTON to "right the ship" (and I was no great fan of his in the beginning), and we NEED SOMEONE NOW who can do the same. That said, I am not a Clinton backer! I would prefer someone else, but, if it comes down to HC or a Republican "stand-in" for a third term for Bush; My VOTE WILL BE FOR Hillary. Any Democratic Voter who votes for any other party (or does not vote)in this next election will likely have a minimum of 4 years to kick themselves for not doing their best to get us back on track.
I think we all need to think about this in realistic terms. McCain is all but assured to be the Republican Candidate! Can we SURVIVE 4 years of another Warmongering, Anti-populist, Anti-rights, Corporate sponsored, REPUBLICAN???
Personally I'd be willing to vote for anyone who offers an alternative to that!
The oversight responsibility was in the Republicans hands for 6 of the last 7 years. Then their's war criminal McCain and his treason during the Vietnam war, a real poster child for sanity who didn't even protect his own family from abuse and insults by the Bush gang in the 2000 election in South Carolina. McCain has already declared war's and he's not even elected president. His Reagoon Republican Alzheimer's is showing as he's forgotten that the Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to declare wars. He's taken that oath of offices several times and doesn't remember it. A Republican president doesn't require a brain or a mind, ala Reagoon,and they prefer it that way.
No doubt the company belongs to another one of Bush's good Republican cronies! What would we do without all the graft coming out of this administration to keep us occupied with the outrage of the week??????
and just think . . . pelosi is letting the clock tick on this corrupt administration . . . she doesn't care about the troops either . . . if she did she would have put impeachment on the agenda . . . our so-called Democratic Congress is with the exception of a few . . . a disgrace
Um, unless it's a reference to Bush, there's no "W" in reckless.
What do you suppose would happen if there were quality issues with oil equipment?
Hillary won't do a darn thing. She will start or continue the war with Iran. Iran just opened their OIL BOURSE trading with other than dollars. That got to hurt the US.
We have but one party, we were duped and we are still stupid.
Oh, come on now, this is just another example of you libruls using the truth to smear us patriotic CONservitives. Libruls are so stoopid.
Surely Sir you must be wrong the Boosh Administration supports our troops to the fullest and they remind us of it daily !
If the preznutz' administration EVER cared about OUR troops, Jon, they would NOT have them policing a civil war, with substandard equipment and training, for a puppet government in a country where 7 out of 10 think killing OUR troops, as well as their own Government, is OK.
I read somewhere recently that a major medical firm has developed new methods for treating severe head trauma.
Maybe this is Bush's way of drumming up business for a contractor buddy
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Posted February 7, 2008 | 12:10 PM (EST)