maybe this u.s. army public affairs officer should come in off the golf course…..

when sue niederer, whose son recently died in iraq while serving as a second lieutenant, shouted at mrs. bush at a republican meeting in hamilton, new jersey, she was quickly handcuffed and arrested by the secret service and local police.

mrs. niederer had been told by her son, 2lt. seth j. dvorin, 24, before he was killed in action in iraq, that he was not properly trained or equipped for the war. she was upset.

what horror is worse than outliving your child?

the “hey abbott award” this week goes to a real schmuck. he is also a real liar.

lt. colonel paul fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the 10^th mountain division at fort drum new york where mrs. niederer’s son was supposedly well trained and, well equipped, responded that the young soldier was in fact, really well trained and well equipped.

fitapatrick is obviously spending too much time on the fort drum golf course. the soldiers in iraq in fact are not well trained and they are not well equipped.

let us first take a look at fitzpatrick’s lie that they are well equipped.

perhaps he can explain why private mail order companies like u.s. cavalry (www.uscav.com) have been making a bundle of money during the last year and a half because of the orders that they have received from soldiers in iraq who do not have the proper equipment.

perhaps he can explain why soldiers have had to even buy their own sleeping bags.

the soldiers buy via the internet, equipment that should have been issued but was not.

as for the “well trained soldier” from the u.s. army, these soldiers who are dying, were trained (and not that well) to be soldiers. they were never trained to be policemen, or bodyguards for halliburton company truckers, or bomb defusing experts.

if lt. colonel fitzpatrick gets a minute off the golf course, he might want to drop in unannounced at any unit at fort drum or for that matter at any army reserve unit in the area and check to see if there is any relationship between what the soldiers are doing and what their printed training schedule says what they are doing.

hey lt. colonel. how many of your soldiers can speak arabic? how many classes in arabic are operating at fort drum?

we got an offer for lt. colonel fitzpatrick.

assemble on the parade field, whatever soldiers from the 10^th mountain division are at fort drum at the present time.

then, in a real military ceremony, we will present to you a pile of receipts for the money that soldiers have been spending to buy necessary equipment, and you will hand over a refund from your salary to the parents of dead soldiers.

you can even have the u.s. army band play, you bum.