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Hillary Clinton AWOL from Body Armor Hearing
After Sen. Hillary Clinton went on TV and blamed Bush administration "incompetence" for alleged inadequacies in body armor supplied to U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, Senate Armed Service Committee chairman John Warner agreed to hold hearings. But when Warner gaveled the proceedings into session on Wednesday, body armor expert Hillary was nowhere to be found. "Senator Clinton had a long planned day of events with her constituents in New York and wasn't able to attend the short-notice briefing attended by the chairman and two members of the minority," Hillary spokesman Philippe Reines told the Washington Times. "Her defense aide attended, and she's going to continue to work hard to make sure that our men and women in uniform get the resources they need," he explained.
Story Continues Below Mrs. Clinton did, however, make time to attend a Children's Defense Fund luncheon on Thursday - along with Harry "Bush is a terrorist" Belafonte - although she was careful not be photographed with bellicose baritone. On Tuesday Mrs. Clinton blasted the White House on the body armor issue, telling ABC's "Good Morning America" that it was "unacceptable and unforgivable" that President Bush had failed to protect the troops. "Of all the issues that he should be focused on, it is providing appropriate protection to our men and women in uniform," the 2008 presidential hopeful complained. "You know, the president speaks out strongly, and even harshly from time to time, about issues that he thinks are important. Let's hear him speak out about protecting the men and women who wear the uniform of our country." If Mrs. Clinton had shown up for the body armor hearing she called for, she would have heard one military man after another explain that her complaints were all wet. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, for instance, testified that the Pentagon had tried to beef up body armor, but "in many cases we found [the troops] didn't wear it because it was too heavy." "We must not burden our soldiers with weight to the point that they become ineffective and susceptible to other dangers," explained Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, the Army's director of force development. Marine Sgt. Jared McNerney actually modeled the kind of up-armored uniform Clinton indicated she preferred. But Sgt. McNerney explained that if he was forced to carry that much weight, it could get him killed. "I'm climbing walls, I'm jumping through windows," McNerney complained. "What I need most is mobility." With the heavier gear, he said, "I can barely extend my arms over my head."
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Bush Administration
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