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Yesterday I posted part of a WaPo story about Rumsfeld getting grilled by the troops. And while I certainly don't disagree with the story's focus on the questions about lack of armor and supplies, I found the full transcript of the event on the DOD site today, and there are some great questions buried deep within that didn't get enough attention. For example:

Brigade Combat team.  We’re helping – or trying to help about 150 soldiers get their contingency travel pay.  We’ve gone through the chain of command; we’ve tried IG channels.  These soldiers have gone – some since July – without getting travel pay.  Thousands of dollars, they’re having creditors call them at home, call their spouses at home, threatening collection action.  We have a big problem.  There seems to be a problem with the Defense Finance Accounting Service.  Can you help us to understand that problem, Mr. Secretary or even better, can you point us to a resource that will help us get these soldiers paid?  [Applause] SEC. RUMSFELD:  Can someone here get the details of the unit he’s talking about?  That’s just not right.  Folks have earned money and are due money, ought to be able to get the money and they ought not to have to put their families under stress while they’re waiting for the money.  Thank you.  [Applause]  We’ll take a note and see what we can do.  Yes, sir. Q:  Specialist Skarwin (Sp?) HHD 42nd Engineer Brigade.  Mr. Secretary [Cheers] my question is with the current mission of the National Guard and Reserves being the same as our active duty counterparts, when are more of our benefits going to line up to the same as theirs, for example, retirement?  [Cheers] [Applause] SEC. RUMSFELD:  [Laughter] I can’t imagine anyone your age worrying about retirement.  [Laughter]  Good grief.  It’s the last thing I want to do is retire.  The pay and benefits for the Guard and the Reserve relative to the active force have been going up unevenly at a rate faster than the active force.  If you go back over four years – matter of fact, I just went over this with the senior person in the department who looks at pay and benefits.  And apparently, what’s happened is that for a variety of reasons, the incremental changes that are made each year, in terms of pay and benefits and health care and retirement and what have you, have brought the Guard and Reserve up at a faster level than the active force.  And what one has to do in managing the total force and the total force is critically important.  We need the Guard and Reserve as well as the active force.  And we have to see that we have the incentives arranged in a way that we can attract and retain the people that are needed to defend the country.  At the moment, we are doing well in terms of attracting and retaining the people we need.  And if anything, I think the data suggests that the Guard and Reserve forces had been advantaged relatively compared to the active force over the past four years.

You have to hand it to these guys. They stood up and asked the tough questions. Why is it that its our soldiers, and not the members of the news media, who were the ones bringing up these issues? Why? Why?

This is what makes the whole right-wing 'support the troops' thing so hard for me to stomach. 'Supporting' the troops isn't about words, it's about actions. Supporting the troops is making sure they have the proper equipment to do the job we've asked and ordered them to do. Supporting the troops is making sure they are getting paid every penny they deserve WITHOUT having to ask, beg, and plead. Supporting troops is making sure they have the proper medical care when they get home. Supporting the troops mean honoring and respecting their service and their commitment through our actions day in and day out.

Yes Mr. Secretary, we know "It’s the last thing I want to do is retire." But in case you've forgotten... The job isn't about you. It is about THEM. From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, that should be your one, your only, concern. Not your job security. Not the President's approval rating. Them. They tried to remind you, and you're too blind, too old, and to arrogant to hear it. We're closing in on nearly two years at war, and your answer is "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time"? Excuse me, Mr. Secretary, but right here, right now... this **IS** a later time. But oh no, retire? Not you. You're having too much fun pontificating about how "If you think about it, you can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can be blown up." Brilliant.

Is it any wonder that military recruiters are reporting they're way, way, WAY behind their targets this year?

But no. Oh no. No draft. No sacrifice. Never. Just an endless shopping spree fueled by tax cuts and private savings accounts for all. It's a new century. Deficits don't matter, and wars require no sacrifice.

And just for the record... does the Right mind? Do they see the Q's by the soldiers as cause for concern. Oh no. Not at all. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Rummy is a hero for standing and answering them. Excuse me? Glenn, normally you get it close to right, but in this case, I'm sorry... We're nearly two years in. Can we please stop with the knee-jerk pro-war sentiment and start thinking critically? Please? There are people's lives quite literally depending on it. Once upon a time asking questions was considered noble. Why is it that so many otherwise intelligent people have forgotten that?

UPDATE: That bit where Rummy says that they're working as fast as they can to get our troops the armor? Yeah. You guessed it. It's a LIE. Here:

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Armor Holdings Inc., the sole supplier of protective plates for the Humvee military vehicles used in Iraq, said it could increase output by as much as 22 percent per month with no investment and is awaiting an order from the Army. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday the Army was working as fast as it can and supply is dictated by ``a matter of physics, not a matter of money.'' Jacksonville, Florida-based Armor Holdings last month told the Army it could add armor to as many as 550 of the trucks a month, up from 450 vehicles now, Robert Mecredy, president of the company's aerospace and defense group said in a telephone interview today. ``We're prepared to build 50 to 100 vehicles more per month,'' Mecredy said in the interview. ``I've told the customer that and I stand ready to do that.''

Tip o' the hat to Atrios for spotting this.

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