The Pencil Test

Lurch, over at Main and Central, has been covering the scandal regarding the body armor issued to our soldiers and Marines. The scandal is basically this: Some of the officers in the Army have been rigging the testing of body armor so that the company that they and their friends have a financial interest in, will win the tests. The "pencil test" refers to writing down test results in pencil so that the entries can be later altered.

Criminal investigations are under way.

And it is worth noting that there are reports that at least nine general officers have chosen to wear the same kind of body armor that the Army is ordering the soldiers not to wear. The body armor the Army is refusing to let soldiers wear is the same kind of body armor that they strapped on Joe Lieberman when he did his "spear and magic helmet" walk around Baghdad.

I wish I could confess to being shocked and outraged. But I am not. That a bunch of people would put their making a financial killing over the welfare of our soldiers is not a new story. It happens every war.

And if proven, those responsible should be made to stand before a firing squad.