Originally posted by MrInquisitive
reply to post by LadyGreenEyes
From an article I read on the attack at Camp Bastion, the fact that US military uniforms were used suggests that the contractor that does the washing
of them, KBR, hires locals. So is it any surprise that US uniforms are stolen and misused in insurgent attacks? And if the uniforms are truly
outdated, then the insurgents can be getting the clothes via army surplus venues.
BTW, this was the greatest US aircraft loss since the 1968 Tet Offensive, and the last time this Marine squadron was grounded due to destroyed/damaged
aircraft was during the Battle of Wake Island.
We don't agree on much at all, LadyGreenEyes, but I think we have some common ground here. That said, this can't all be blamed on the Obama
administration -- although it is clearly at fault here too. This has been going on during Bush II's watch and congress of both parties have done
nothing about it, and the MSM AND Fox News have nothing to say about it. This problem and the way this and all recent wars have been waged can be
laid at the foot of the US political and news media establishment of both major political parties.
Well, that would be one way they could get them, but from what I have been told (by my soldier husband, who I just asked), it is TCNs (third country
nationals), hired by American contractors, that do the laundry. He had Filipinos and some from Sri Lanka where he was. If uniforms were missing, a
claim could be made IF the stuff was inventoried when turned in to be laundered. Even if it wasn't, the soldier could inform the base counter-intel
people that they were missing, and potentially gone to the enemy. Of course, that would be dependent on all with some missing to take such action, so
it's hard to say how likely a source the laundry would be. He did tell me, though, that these people doing the laundry didn't even speak the local
language, though. So, that would make it a bit more complicated. Possible, though, and something that investigators should look into, and see if
tighter procedures are needed. Surplus, well, I could see that stateside, but it seems less likely overseas. Of course, with probably cells in the
U.S., old uniforms could be bought easily and shipped to overseas locations. Customs can't check everything.
I did catch how bad this one was, and that makes it more appalling that we heard nothing, or almost nothing, in the news when this happened!
There is common ground in some areas, with many that I don't agree with often!

No, not all in his lap, though it does seem like there have been
far more attacks since he took office. The media is always a joke (and that goes for almost ALL of the MSM, no matter what side they seem to be on).
Congress? They can't pass a budget, so I don't really expect anything better on serious issues. Stateside, neither side wants to do anything about
border security, and God only knows what's been brought over our borders, and who has brought it. There are good indications that Middle Eastern
terrorists have come in that way, and even some that they work with the drug cartels. I really liked a lot about Bush, but he was a JOKE regarding
the border (and, yeah, I let him know I wasn't happy about that, more than once). Even calling it a "war on terror" wasn't exactly honest.
Terrorism, yes. "Terror", as some vague thing? More like avoiding being politically incorrect. I don't think all Muslims support terrorism, but
I think it's dishonest to pretend that certain parts of Islam, the violent parts, aren't an issue.
The intel failures are a huge problem as well. We KNEW that the WTC was a target, because they tried taking it down in '93. Yet, knowing that, and
knowing from experts that the buildings had flaws that made them more vulnerable, no one did anything. I also am bothered by the way a plane could
hit the Pentagon (I do think it was a plane - saw pictures even then with plane parts in the wreckage), and none of the supposed air defense measures
were able to stop it. How the heck does that happen??? You can't fly a Cessna off course there without fighters scrambling, but they flew an
airliner into a building? No fighter jets in sight? Assuming that it was a plane, there are really only two possibilities. Either there was a total
breakdown in the warning and defense system, or it was allowed to happen.
All these years, and all these attacks, yet they can still show up with weapons and uniforms they should not have, and get through what should have
been a very secure perimeter, undetected? We were stationed at MacDill for awhile, and I can guarantee you that if I were to try approaching that
airfield, with nothing but a camera, there is NO WAY I would be undetected. How could an airbase in a war zone be less secure? The whole mess
stinks.