Sunday, March 25, 2007

To Undermine, Or Not To.

Veep Cheney has been pounding this drum for quite some time. We are all aware of his selectivity when it comes to pronounceing something as 'undermining' the troops.
These are just acouple I can think of off the top of my head. The list goes on and on, much like, I fear, Cheney's evil undead soul will.

Here's a new one from today's Chicago Tribune, that probably falls in the, 'Not undermining' catagory.

When Lt. Dave Moore visited infantry units in the remote, rugged mountains of Afghanistan late last year, the Navy medical officer was surprised to hear from many soldiers and Marines that they had lost significant weight.

After conducting more than 150 interviews with medics, officers and troops on the ground, Moore concluded that the portable rations called "Meals, Ready-to-Eat"--long derided by troops, but valued by the Pentagon for their indestructibility--were not doing the job, causing the soldiers to shed pounds that they very much needed.

"The standard Meal, Ready to Eat (MRE) does not provide adequate nutrition for dismounted operations in this type of terrain," said an excerpt of Moore's classified report, which was released by the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned. "Many Marines and soldiers lost 20 to 40 pounds of bodyweight during their deployment. At least one soldier was evacuated due to malnutrition and a 60-pound weight loss."


Dr. Andrew Young, a researcher at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine at Natick, said
"The MRE is designed to provide the caloric needs of the largest percentage of war fighters," he said. "The issue is operational constraints that are imposed on the warriors that prevent them from consuming the optimal calories."







5 comments:

--- said...

For me personally, whenever the grim thought of the current administration rears its ugly, ugly head, I feel like I should bash my own head in to a brick wall. And that story is just... oh my GOD. They don't even get a chance to eat enough food?! As in, they're trying to not get killed, so no time to eat? *bash* *bash*

Ow. My head.

Moderator said...

You hate freedom.

Some Guy said...

Ditto what Grant said, you freedom-hater! Move back to Russia!

Anonymous said...

What makes me all gooey inside is that we sat through year after year of scandals and then Monica Lewinsky and the "President LIED about having his dick sucked!!!" So, we get impeachment all through the late '90's and now this current administration is doing anything and everything short of wearing ski-masks to hijack the country and there is STILL a bunch of jack-offs floating around thinking we are 'safe' and 'fighting for freedom.' The disillusionment is palpable.

Tim A

Foofa said...

Isn't thin in anyway? The administration can applaud the practice by telling everyone the soldiers are getting prepard for a career in post-war modeling. It's a great idea! No lack of job for these returning soldiers. The comparisons to Vietnam will certainly stop then.