Of course this story was verified by Jake Tapper of ABC.

[Editor --- yeah, and The New Republic fully vetted Scott Beauchamp. And even confirmed the story with some other Soldiers in his company. And then the light was shined on the story and it fell apart. Even though the actually military guys already knew it was bullshit. The ammo story has already been debunked and admitted to be a lack of ammo during some training. And, while some HUMVEES were not uparmored back in 2004, it does not represent the truth of the situation on the ground today, which is what Obama implied.]

Well, I can understand your hesitation about the anonymous attribution even if it is perfectly reasonable for the Captain to keep his name unknown.

As it happened, as this story was breaking out, it was quietly verified by other interviews with soldiers in Afghanistan:

And they felt eclipsed by Iraq. As Sgt. Erick Gallardo put it: “We don’t get supplies, assets. We scrounge for everything and live a lot more rugged. But we know the war is here. We got unfinished business.”

I understand it might be difficult to digest the fact that this President talks a big game but repeatedly fails to address crucial national security issues. Afghanistan is just one on the list.

[Editor --- this is a joke of a statement, right? Because the one thing that President Bush has accomplished is precisely keeping American's safe from terror attacks. Unless I missed the headlines since 9/11 about those other attacks that al Qaeda promised they would carry out on your country.]

Left by Preston on February 26th, 2008 at 6:26 am

I say BS too, as did Senator Warner, only in much more polite way, the day this story came out, and has requested all pertinent info from B-HO, so his Senate Armed Services Committee can get to the truth.

Left by no2liberals on February 26th, 2008 at 6:56 am

Editor — this is a joke of a statement, right?

The 2007 report hasn’t been released yet but the State Department’s 2006 Country Report on Terror put the worldwide incidents of terrorist acts at 14,338 killing 20,498 people. In 2003 there were 208 terrorist attacks, with 625 dead.

The FBI has done a noteworthy job in this atmosphere but there is little cause for celebrating the Administration’s strategy for reducing terrorism.

Presumably the 2007 report will show some improvement because we’re buying off the Sunni tribes though I’ll be interested to see the numbers from the rest of the world.

Left by Preston on February 26th, 2008 at 11:47 am

Islamic terrorists have carried out 10626 deadly terror attacks since 9-11.
TROP.

Left by no2liberals on February 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

Sen. Warner Calls For Hearing on Obama’s Taliban Claims.

[Editor --- that's good news. And I'll bet, just like the Scott Beauchamp "war atrocities" story, this one too will fall well short of the truth once some light is shined on it.]

Left by no2liberals on February 26th, 2008 at 1:24 pm

Well, General Casey is probably just a phony soldier but this is his take:

Army chief of staff Gen. George Casey, testifying on troop strain before the Senate Armed Forces Committee Tuesday, said there is “no reason to doubt” Sen. Barack Obama’s military shortage story during CNN’s debate in Austin, Texas, last week.

Sen. Barack Obama says he knows of a platoon sent to Afghanistan with a shortage of personnel and equipment.

“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,” Obama told CNN moderator Campbell Brown.

“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,” he added.

War supporters have challenged the story, but Casey said he had “no reason to doubt what it is the captain says.”

Left by Preston on February 26th, 2008 at 8:44 pm

Amy Procter found this out from her husband who is serving in the military:

Okay, Gateway, hubby e-mailed me pretty upset over the Obama transcript. He said this:

1. CPT’s command companies, not platoons.
2. Platoons are not divided up to go to 2 different theaters, EVER.
3. There is no ammo shortage in OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan). Many platoons are deployed to remote sites in the mountains and require aerial resupply. Those resupply missions are dependent on favorable weather conditions.
4. Taliban weapons are usually not very good and we would not use them without a very high level of command approval.
5. The CDR in Chief is so high above the platoon level that comment doesn’t even deserve a response.

He’s just trying to exploit democratic boilerplate about Operation Iraqi Freedom being a diversion from “the good war” (OEF). He’s wrong on many levels.

We are winning in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I just left Baghdad.

We have everything we need except for our OWN government to be united behind victory in OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom).
————————————————
The Pentagon made a statement today, via Reuters:

The Pentagon on Friday cast doubt on an account of military equipment shortages mentioned by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama during a debate with rival Hillary Clinton.

“I find that account pretty hard to imagine,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

“Despite the stress that we readily acknowledge on the force, one of the things that we do is make sure that all of our units and service members that are going into harm’s way are properly trained, equipped and with the leadership to be successful,” he said.

Whitman’s remarks were unusual as the Pentagon often declines to talk about comments from political campaigns.

Obama said the captain was the head of a rifle platoon, which should have had 39 members — but 15 were sent to Iraq so the unit deployed to Afghanistan had 24 soldiers.

Several Army officers said a platoon is normally commanded by a 2nd lieutenant — two ranks below a captain — but the size of a platoon would indeed be around 40 soldiers.
——————————————-
Commenter Big Old Dog added this on the accusations:

If the Captain, a West Point grad, truly feels like he and his men were put in harms way unnecessarily then he has a moral and ethical obligation to step out of the shadows and tell his story. Obviously he considers his career more important than his men’s lives or he is a lair/exaggerator.

Were any of his men inured or killed because of these issues? Did they prevent them from accomplishing their mission? what were the consequences of these “problems.” How many units were similarly affected? We can’t get answers from somebody hiding behind the cloak of anonymity…
————————————
Army spokesman John P. Boyce Jr. issued a statement saying: “Without a unit designation or time frame of deployment, it’s difficult for us to verify the validity of what was told to the senator. Our soldiers deploy as complete units — either as companies, battalions or brigades, and they do so with every soldier armed with his or her individual weapon. … Army units and individual replacements arrive in country fully capable to conduct combat operations.”

** Conclusion: It’s a Lie. The story holds no weight and that is why the captain remains anonymous. If there was any truth here the captain should come out of the shadows to correct the situation. Unless he is a heartless b*stard who does not care about the safety of his men, he would do this.
He won’t.

Mistaken Messiah.
It’s BS until B-HO’s source for this story comes forward and gives a full accounting, his facts are checked, and those he served with have their say.

Left by no2liberals on February 26th, 2008 at 10:20 pm