Army will replace Iraq Humvees with Chrysler Minivans

[LuPeRcALiO]

When War Goes Off the Script: A Week of Shock and Awe

By DAVE LINDORFF
June 1, 2005

The news this past week has been especially hard to believe. First we learned, courtesy of Edmunds, the car magazine, that the Bush administration has decided to equip the occupation forces in Iraq with Chrysler minivans, in place of GM's Humvee gas hogs. This is a low blow to General Motors, which only days earlier saw its bonds reduced to junk status by the ratings agencies largely because of the company's moronically short-sighted decision to focus on gas-guzzling SUVs like the Hummer.

It's more than a little ironic that Bush--a guy who has spent his oil-stained career mocking those who call for federal laws to mandate better gas mileage from Detroit automakers--would make a major purchase decision (we're talking about a 25,000-vehicle order here) based upon fuel economy. It's also worth noting that these Pentagon-bound Chrysler minivans will all be made in Canada, while the Humvee is made in the good old USA.

I'm not sure what the opinion of the troops is on this one. There have been complaints all along that the Humvees were inadequately armored to protect against RPGs, AK-47s and IEDs, but if the government-ordered minivans are anything like my own Chrysler minivan, which is a piece of tin that gets dented by the slightest kicked-up pebble, we can expect the American casualty rate to soar when these babies start rolling along Iraqi roads. . . .

This was followed by news that many if not most of the prisoners at Guantanamo, far from being captured in battle, were in fact sold to US forces by Afghan warlords and other nefarious traffickers. If there were doubts about the guilt of these alleged "terror suspects" before, it should now be totally clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that the U.S. has committed a huge mistake in incarcerating these people. U.S. officials, true to form, have been quick to deny that they paid for the captives, but already, these denials have been undermined by testimony from people involved in the deals, who are reporting that millions of dollars were shipped over to Afghanistan in the weeks after 9-11 to pay to those willing to turn over suspects.

more: http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff06012005.html

[wtmusic]

1. Screw the armor-those babies can fit up to 55 c/f of groceries in the tail

[fortyfeetunder]

2. Good grief, who in the hell is running this war?

AS it is the humvees aren't armored worth a shit, and they are being traded down to minivans? :wtf:

[LeftyMom]

14. Heck, that's not even a very safe minivan

or reliable, or fuel efficient... If I was buying minivan, the Damiler Chrysler models would be really low on my list, just above the truck based vans. Since it's made in Canadia anyhow, they might as well have sprung for the Japanese imports, instead of the Daimler Crapmobiles.

[fortyfeetunder]

20. Reminds me of the Gary Larson Far Side cartoon

Of this deer with a bullseye marking on his chest and his deer buddy comments about the birthmark.

Those minivans might as well have bullseyes on them.

[bridgit]

3. they should use volvo station-wagons cause...

they're designed to be safer :thumbsup:

[lenidog]

12. With a Volvo especially the older ones I could see bullets actually

bouncing off when hit.

[funflower]

22. Yeah, but the old Volvos are all covered with Kerry stickers!

:toast:

[BrotherBuzz]

30. LOL

and a couple of Bush sucks/Impeach Bush stickers might make 'em bullet-proof, no?

[Selatius]

4. You need a tank to fully protect against RPG-7s and IEDs

It's not realistic to expect to dramatically drop casualties in convoys if you don't put them in tanks, but tanks are slow and break down easily and take up even more gas.

[lenidog]

17. Very true

Especially seeing as the HEAT warhead of an RPG-7 was designed to go through 320mm of armor plate.

[KeepItReal]

31. They've figured out how to kill our best tanks

"The burned out hulk of an American M1A1 tank that was destroyed by Iraqi forces during battle south of Baghdad. The Marines inside escaped alive, according to Lt. Mike Borneo. LOS ANGELES TIMES PHOTO BY RICK LOOMIS"

[chicagojoe]

5. More deaths to hold Bush accountable for.

The Reaper awaits the Idiot Bush.

[tridim]

6. Soldiers, be sure to thank Rummy..

Your new ride..

[Horse with no Name]

7. Oh Lord what could be uglier than a camo Chrysler mini-van?

Aren't those the ones that were recalled when the back flew open and the people in the back seat went flying out?

[LSdemocrat]

8. Why do people even consider DaimlerChrysler a "Detroit automaker"?

It wasn't a merger, it was a buyout. The company is now based in Germany, run by German executives (who actually do earn about a tenth as much as their ridiculously overpaid American equivalents).

This has to be one of the most bizarre decisions that this administration has made. Dems should be all over this one.

[lenidog]

9. The Minivans aren't supposed to run around Iraq

They are meant for bases in Germany or the US. The Humvee is the standard vehicle for the US Army. That means if someone wants to drive from point a at Ft. Hood to point b they hop into the Hummer which gets horrific gas mileage. So now instead of the Hummer they will hop into the minivan.

[bpilgrim]

10. not according to the article

crazy ain't it :crazy:

peace

[lenidog]

11. Well he is reporting it to us second hand

and 25,000 vehicles is an awful lot of minivans just for Iraq. Especially seeing as the original order for Hummers for the entire US army was 55,000 and that was back in 1985 when the military was far larger than today.

[bpilgrim]

13. maybe it's both

and the minivans will get chewed up quick i'm sure if it's sent to combat zones like anywhere in iraq or afghanistan, so maybe they are 'thinking ahead' :crazy:

peace

[lenidog]

16. That is a possibility but that is still a shitload of minivans

I would think they would keep them on base if they are sent to Iraq but then again the old jeeps had nothing to protect you from a bullet so maybe they don't care.

[lenidog]

18. In a place like Afghanistan the roads will kill off the minivans

quicker than the Taliban or Al Qaeda

[Bozita]

15. God bless our troops, eh? n/t

[Morning Dew]

19. The way this maladministration runs things

I'm surprised they aren't going for the circus clown cars

[ConfuZed]

21. Minivans? This has to be a joke...

whatare they sending 'soccer moms' now?

[ConfuZed]

24. OH MY GOD THIS ISNT A JOKE?

Can someone post a pic of these deathmobiles they are sending to iraq?

[ConfuZed]

25. kick

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. I just hope they buy a lot of tow trucks

I can just see these minivans stuck in the sand all over Iraq. At least a Humvee can drive anywhere it damn well pleases.

[welshTerrier2]

26. Soldiers not trained for Minivans; they're drafting Soccer Moms

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld admitted today that American soldiers in Iraq were simply not prepared to take on the new Minivans ... "We trained our guys on Humvees right down to how to set the buttons on the radio ... we're already short-handed over there ... we need help and we need it now"

General Myers was standing by to back-up his boss ... Myers said: "Our guys have been studying the Minivan manuals for weeks but it just isn't going to work out" ... Rumsfeld interrupted: "oh, it would work out if we could get another supplemental from Congress to finance the training" ... it was clear from his tone Rumsfeld knew that was unlikely ...

Rumsfeld continued: "but we have a plan ... we're calling on Soccer Moms all over the country to pitch in ... they came in big for the republicans in the past and we know they'll be the first ones to volunteer" ...

only time will tell ...

[Daphne08]

27. Is this really true?

I'm speechless.

[LuPeRcALiO]

28. as far as I know

reply to Daphne08 (oops):

it's not a joke post if that's what you mean. Counterpunch is a little out there but it doesn't make stuff up :shrug:

[BurtWorm]

29. Maybe "Support the Troops" magnets are bullet-proof.

They could put them all over the cars for protection.

:think:

[dansolo]

32. I'm not at all suprised about the Gitmo prisoners

I suspected back when we invaded Afghanastan that our troops were effectively serving as mercenaries for the Afghan Warlords, who we were overly relying on for "intelligence". They would give faulty information stating that so-and-so was working for the Taliban, and then then they would sit back while the US forces would bomb the shit out of and/or arrest their political rivals.