Would-be Commander-in-Chief Obama Corrected by Those He’d Presume to Lead

You know, I’ve heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon — supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq.

And as a consequence, they didn’t have enough ammunition, they didn’t have enough humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief.

You know, Obama, you’d be wrong on that.

The image of bereft and bumbling troops that Obama conjured up, however, probably confirms conclusions that he would prefer to reach. Just like his wife’s deficit in American pride is derivative of a certain mind set, so also is the would-be commander-in-chief’s. I fear Obama -and whatever leftist posse he drags into office with him – will dress the troops in shades of UN Goon Blue and send them traipsing around the world, redistributing America’s wealth, which, he has already promised, you’ll have no choice but to labor for. All for the greater good (but not your grandchildren’s greater good).

Amy Proctor’s husband, currently deployed, is one of hundreds who have responded to Obama’s questionable statements on arming the troops. He “wrote from Iraq that Obama has his facts completely wrong and that his words are a diversion”. Read his email and others weighing in at Amy’s site

Also of interest is ABC’s Jake Tapper’s attempt to fact check Obama’s statements, concluding, in his mind, that Obama was not in error. A perusal of the comments convincingly demonstrates that Mr. Tapper would likely be wrong, too. This one sums up the general consensus pretty well….

Obama said:

“You know, I’ve heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon — supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon,” he said. “Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq. And as a consequence, they didn’t have enough ammunition, they didn’t have enough humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief.”

The captain disavowed the complete last sentence of the anecdote. Obama’s wording in the first part makes it sound like this platoon didn’t have enough basic ammunition as opposed to specialized ammo. And he makes it sound like the platoon was split up, rather than individuals being reassigned to other units that eventually wound up in Iraq.

But the anecdote checks out? Tapper might be a good writer, but he’s not a magician. Obama more than shaded the truth. He didn’t “let the facts get in the way of a good anecdote.”

Well, they’re in the way now, and Tapper’s article, while it softens the blow, does nothing to dissuade objective observers from concluding that Obama is uninformed about military procedure (for example, many military personnel have pointed out that platoons are rarely at 100% strength) and clearly willing to distort the facts for political gain – the precise thing he accuses the current administration of doing.

Posted by: Me | Feb 22, 2008 6:00:43 PM

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