<DIV><A href="mailto:lbo-talk@lbo-talk.org"></A> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/25/1410231"></A> </DIV> <DIV>This is a link to info about a cable documentary that aired in late August; it followed the deployment of the Arkansas National Guard in Iraq.  There were entire sections that dealt with how poorly equipped these guys were to go into battle, especially their old, unarmored vehicles they brought from stateside, since Guardsmen had to bring and use what they had back home; the pros were the ones who had the best of everything .   There's lots of hunting around for scrap metal to weld to your vehicle so you might have some protection, exactly what the serviceman asked Rumsfeld about.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think we definitely have a "two-tiered" military in Iraq...the enlisted professionals are very well trained and get the best of everything, making *them* the best fighting force in the world right now.  It's just those red-headed stepkids, the Guards...regular service looks down on them, because they're not pros, and they have no one to stick up for them in the turf fights.  So they've been getting the absolute worst end of the stick ever since this began.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But there are exceptions.  The grandparents of a kid in the Army who got sent over last year made it known thru the community grapevine that they had to go to a surplus Army-Navy store and buy him a Kevlar jacket because he hadn't been issued one, only an ancient Vietnam-era-or-maybe-later thing that was pretty useless on today's battlefield.  </DIV> <DIV>Those things cost close to $1400, BTW...at least when you buy privately...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Maria</DIV><p>__________________________________________________<br>Do You Yahoo!?<br>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around <br>http://mail.yahoo.com