The Death of 19 Soldiers Could Have Been Prevented

As the news keeps coming in (and changing, for that matter) about the "rocket attack" (now believed to be a suicide or planted bomb attack) on a mess hall tent in Mosul, one thing is glaringly obvious to me: it could have been prevented. From CNN:

CNN personnel who have visited the base said the dining area is a tent-like facility with no hardened protection -- and that soldiers had specifically raised concerns that they could be targeted by insurgents at meal time.

One had told CNN it was only a matter of time before there was an attack on the mess hall.

"There is a level of vulnerability when you go in there, and you don't feel like there's a hard roof over your head," said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, an officer at Camp Marez.

Overall the base has good protection, Hastings said, and a new dining facility is being built.

Bill Nemitz, a reporter with the Press-Herald newspaper of Portland, Maine, who was embedded at the base, said the new facility is made of concrete and was originally set to be completed by Christmas, but construction had slowed and the building is not near completion.

Nemitz said the base's chief medical officer in April expressed concern about the mess hall being targeted and was charged with drawing up a "mass casualty" plan.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of the military in general. We just don't have a lot in common. But you better believe that I respect it, and that I respect the men and women who serve in it. I also respect their opinions and their voices. When they say they need something for protection, I'll take their word for it. So how come Rummy and his boys refuse to listen to the people he sent to war? As Trent Lott said (and it pains me to quote him for my argument), "I don't think he listens enough to his uniformed officers." There was clearly concern about something like this happening, and yet, nothing was done. I'm not necessarily arguing that Rumsfeld was abreast of the mess hall situation in Mosul, or that he is personally to blame for there not being more protection there, but I do feel that he sets a bad example for the rest of the chain of command with his hands-off approach to the war.

By the way, had that new facility been completed on time, 22 people, including 19 soldiers, would still be alive today, and 66 others would not be wounded. And guess whose job it was to get that new facility finished? That's right, good old Haliburton.