With the recent losses of United States soldiers in Iraq I have some questions and some possible solutions. I question why our military leaders had so many soldiers gathered in a mess tent which by all accounts was a target and vulnerable? We send convoys of vehicles into the streets of Iraq knowing they are targets and we lose soldiers almost every day to explosions. Who orders the soldiers into these vehicles and why? Not only do President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld owe us answers, we also deserve answers from our top military leaders in Iraq.
Any general who would place dozens of soldiers in a confined area that is a known target should not be a general and I would question how they became a general. As citizens we have every right to question these decisions because obviously the president and “Rummy” are not asking those questions.
Now, for my possible solutions. Every field grade officer in the chain of command who placed soldiers in that unprotected tent needs to be reprimanded, demoted or discharged from military service. The lives of our soldiers are too valuable for them to be squandered. I suggest a hearing before Congress in which the top commanders in Iraq explain why so many soldiers were placed in such a vulnerable position. Have not these officers heard of dispersing their soldiers? Placing dozens of soldiers in one small area invites attack. As far as protecting the convoys, if every convoy in Iraq had to have a colonel or a general placed in the most vulnerable vehicle we might see far fewer convoys and better armor for the vehicles that do travel.
Robert Zigler
Marysville
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