It's all well and good ...

to say to the troops heading from Kuwait into Iraq that "You go to war with the army you've got, not the army you want" when you're flying to India the next day.

But for people who are going someplace where they might be killed or maimed because they don't have the equipment they need it's another matter entirely. And to alter none of your plans nor issue any orders or directives which change procurement or supply procedures only illustrates the callous disregard that Secretary Rumsfeld has for the men and women who carry out his orders. Previously I had thought he'd never served himself so was ill suited to being the Secretary of Defense, however I looked up his record on a DoD website. He was a Navy fighter pilot during the late 50s and early 60s. I don't see that he served in Vietnam but at least he wore the uniform. And since then he's had more jobs than a frycook at McDonalds.

So it's very possible that it's not he doesn't know what they're going through. He served so he should have some idea. The only conclusion I'm left to draw is that he does know but doesn't care. That doesn't bode well for the next few hundred soldiers, marines and airmen who will be killed in Iraq (or their families).