Who's Running This War

[lynn]

OK, I know I'm on the record for not getting us into this mess but ...

I just heard a news report on CNN to the effect that our troops are running out of bullets.

I guess somebody forgot to inventory supplies. Who is the Sec. of Defense again?

[al j]

another case of taking what you hear to extremes.

[tippy]

Let them throw rocks.

[john williams]

US Army runs 'low' on bullets
US forces have used so much ammunition in Iraq and elsewhere that its main supplier will not be able to met demand, US officials have said.

The US Army needs two billion bullets a year, but the government owned supplier can only make 1.2 billion, officials said.

The US military say that operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other theatres as well as training needs have push demand to its highest level since the Vietnam war.

Government-owned bullet maker Alliant Techsystems says it is in talks with the military about remedying the shortage.

Company's chief executive Dan Murphy is quoted in Britian's Financial Times as saying the company is witnessing its fastest increase in production since the Vietnam War, has hired 1,000 workers over the past three years and is working round the clock to meet demand.

The US Army has already given contracts for 70 million rounds each to an Israel weapons maker and another US company.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1117885.htm

ATK sure does make some money though.
http://www.atk.com/newsroom/

[Monte Smith]

Sounds like the Pentagon is ahead of this.

[Uli]

To me it sounds like they are still 660 million bullets short.

[crawjo]

When you think about it, it's really a grisly detail, that we need all those bullets. Just think: most of those bullets will be fired with either the intent to harm or kill another person.

[john williams]

Originally Posted by crawjo

When you think about it, it's really a grisly detail, that we need all those bullets. Just think: most of those bullets will be fired with either the intent to harm or kill another person.

Yes they will. It brings things into a rather unpleasant perspective, for me anway.

[Monte Smith]

Hey, let's not forget the J-DAMS.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by crawjo

When you think about it, it's really a grisly detail, that we need all those bullets. Just think: most of those bullets will be fired with either the intent to harm or kill another person.

It's truly sickening, despite some poster's lame attempt at gallows humor.

[Monte Smith]

And the MOAB, which has been tested but never deployed. I understand the program has been canceled. One of those and you can retire the bullets, because the only people you'd be shooting would be the ones coming down as fallout.

[lynn]

Originally Posted by Joe Christmas

another case of taking what you hear to extremes.

You are absolutely correct. except it wasn't me.

Monte sez: "Sounds like the Pentagon is ahead of this."

Well I will agree the Pentagon certianly has it's head someplace. Rumsfeld's head is there too.

Thanks for the print link JBW.

[Monte Smith]

You see, Lynn, the "shortage" of bullets is a shortfall in current production against projections of what our soldiers will need in the coming years. This is not a case of our guys running out of ammunition in a firefight. The Pentagon is ahead of this "problem" by contracting with new suppliers. As is appropriate.

[lynn]

Thanks for the AMMO 101 but you must have missed my intent somewhere in translation. Next time I'll try to be more clear. Obviously somebody did miscalulate the demand to bullets, yes?

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by lynn

Obviously somebody did miscalulate the demand to bullets, yes?

Yes?

No. The demand for bullets up to this year was perfect. We are talking about the demand for bullets in the years soon to come.

Nobody has ever shot a blank cartridge at Muqtadar Sadr's Mahdi Army (recently retreating from Najaf).

[Uli]

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

No. The demand for bullets up to this year was perfect. We are talking about the demand for bullets in the years soon to come.

Are you saying that the demand for bullets increased more than 50% from this year to the years soon to come?

What for?

[lynn]

Telling, No? I guess it's not turning out to be the walk in the park these guys anticipated. In other words they miscalculated.