60 Minutes aired this story tonight. I’ve got the video here. [15.5MB, 13’03”]
The point they’re trying to hit home, though I’m not sure they entirely succeeded, is that while it’s widely accepted that we’re in a Heap-o-Trouble in Iraq, even the too-small force we have there is under-supplied, and in cases may be close to mutiny.
One of the people they interviewed is General Ray Byrne of the Oregon National Guard. Steve Kroft says to Gen. Byrne, “Your men feel that they’re dying over there because they’re not getting the proper equipment.”
After a few seconds, Byrne answers, “It distresses me greatly that they do not have the equipment. I don’t have control over it. The soldiers don’t have control over it. The question becomes, ‘When is it gonna to be available? When is it gonna to be available? When will they have it?'”
If Bush is re-elected on Tuesday — the prospect of which fills me with anger, dread, and disdain — if Bush is re-elected, I wonder how long it will be before Byrne is either in Falluja, or looking for a new line of work…
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