They Really Mean an Army of One (Because You're on Your Own)

A year after being required by Congress too reimburse soldiers for body armor the soldiers had to purchase, the Pentagon has still not begun payments. The reason? They never wanted to pay the soldiers back.

An anonymous parent of a Marine sums it up pretty well:

"We agree with the comment of a former Marine whose son, also a Marine, is serving in Fallujah, who was quoted by the AP: "...I think the U.S. has an obligation to make sure they (soldiers) have this equipment and to reimburse for it. I just don't support Donald Rumsfeld's idea of going to war with what you have, not what you want. You go to war prepared, and you don't go to war until you are prepared."

This sets an interesting, and scary precedent, will tank commander be required to buy their own M1 Abrams tanks (cost $4.3 million) or how about B-2 pilots, (cost $2.2 billion?) Of course not, so why would the pentagon expect troops on the ground to buy their own armor? And why hasn't the GOP, America's "pro-military" party enforced this law? For that matter why has the GOP which runs the Pentagon continued to drag it's feet?