Iraq - Another Vietnam Quagmire?

Not according to Art Fougner of Flushing, New York:

Iraq is just like Vietnam except: We occupy Hanoi. We've captured Ho Chi Minh.
The North Vietnamese have just held a free and democratic election. The North Vietnamese are working on a new constitution. Yes, Iraq is just like Vietnam.

Touche.

Of course, Art's bit of wisdom falls on deaf ears in the MSM where they continue to print the news that fits their Vietnam Quagmire template even when good news is out there to be reported.  Just ask Colonel Thomas Spoehr:

Spoehr is the director of materiel for the Army staff. He had a good news story to tell Moss [reporter for the New York Times - ed.], which Moss converted into a bad news story.

Here is the story as Spoehr tells it:

Last year, senior leaders of the Army became aware of technological developments which make it possible to improve the "Interceptor" body armor worn by our troops.`

The "Interceptor" consists of a vest, two SAPI (small arms protective insert) plates worn in the front and the back, and "backing" material around the plates. The plates are made of boronic carbide, the second hardest substance known to man (only diamonds are harder) but fairly light weight.

The plates will shatter a standard rifle bullet, and the backing catches the bullet fragments to prevent injuries from shrapnel.

...

"Making one of these plates is like making one of those tiles that protects the (space) shuttle from heat," Spoehr said.

Yet though the specifications weren't set until early in January, new plates were being manufactured — and delivery begun to U.S. troops — in March. Those familiar with the Pentagon's procurement process recognize this as lightning speed.

The process was speeded up in part because in this instance the Army departed from the normal Pentagon practice of telling contractors not only what the Army needed, but how the contractors were to build what the Army wanted.

This time, Spoehr said, the Army told contractors what the Army needed, and let the contractors figure out how best to meet the need.

"It's our belief that we put the specifications out there, and then we let good old American ingenuity go to work," he said. "We have realized improvements in our own system from innovations contractors have come up with."

The new plates are a little thicker, but they weigh just two lbs. more than the ones currently in use. The new SAPI plates cost $1,300 a set, up from $1,000 for the older set.

Here's how the story was presented by Moss in the New York Times Aug. 14th: "For the second time since the Iraq war began, the Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks of insurgents.

"The ceramic plates in vests worn by most personnel cannot withstand certain munitions the insurgents use. But more than a year after military officials initiated an effort to replace the armor with thicker, more resistant plates, tens of thousands of soldiers are still without the stronger protection because of a string of delays in the Pentagon's procurement system."

Anecdotal evidence for the continued attempts by a partisan main stream media to portray the truth falsely (or ignore it altogether) while trumpeting the bad news.

News thats fit to print... as long as it fits the template and if it doesn't, make it fit.

With kudos to Reynolds, The Anchoress and Gerard Vanderleun for bringing these stories to our attention.

UPDATE: Gary at Both Worlds has his own anecdotal evidence to add to the mix:

My 28-year-old nephew has been on duty in Iraq for over a year. He's neither a hawk nor a crusader nor particularly political. The Army is simply his job and he does it well. . Recently he was commendated for locating an explosive device and saving the lives of innumerable people. Before Iraq he was stationed in Bosnia.

He visited home this summer. Sitting around my sister's pool, he told me clearly and firsthandedly that our media distorts the true story of what is going in Iraq. He said they focus on all the bad things and ignore a lot of the good stuff. He said they simply don't present an accurate picture of the situation over there. Period.

Comments

[Gary]

Thanks for the quote and the link, Rick!