CBS Evening News open - 2004-12-08

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Thank you for making News Channel 5 your

[0:03] number one choice for news and

[0:04] information.

[0:07] >> Tonight, Rumsfeld under fire. US

[0:10] soldiers in the Iraq theater challenge

[0:12] him face to face about equipment

[0:14] shortages and extended tours of duty,

[0:17] especially for National Guardsmen and

[0:19] reservists. After the sports brawl of

[0:22] the year, a prosecutor files charges.

[0:25] players and fans alike charged with

[0:27] assault and battery. On the health

[0:30] watch, she says it worked for her. A new

[0:33] and more effective drug designed to

[0:35] prevent a recurrence of breast cancer.

[0:38] And Mary Tyler Moore's battle to save

[0:41] some high-flying neighbors from

[0:42] eviction.

[0:49] This is the CBS Evening News with Dan

[0:52] Rather reporting from CBS News

[0:54] headquarters in New York. Good evening.

[0:57] He runs the whole US military. They are

[1:00] a military force under stress. Army

[1:03] reserve is soon to enter Iraq and likely

[1:05] to meet the enemy in combat. So, face

[1:08] tof face today with the boss, Defense

[1:10] Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Grunts

[1:12] exercised their American right of free

[1:15] speech. As CBS's Kimberly Doer reports

[1:18] from Baghdad, they ask some pointed

[1:20] questions about how the war is being

[1:22] conducted and criticized the equipment

[1:24] they've been given to fight it.

[1:28] After another day of violent attacks

[1:30] against American forces here, the

[1:32] tough-talking US defense secretary got

[1:34] some tough talk from his own soldiers

[1:36] today at a Kuwaiti base near Iraq. There

[1:39] was criticism for everything from lack

[1:41] of equipment to extended duty in an

[1:44] unfinished war.

[1:45] >> Why do we soldiers have to dig through

[1:47] local landfills for pieces of scrap

[1:49] metal and compromised ballistic glass to

[1:51] up armor our vehicles? And why don't we

[1:53] have those resources readily available

[1:55] to us? something many had obviously

[1:57] wanted to ask,

[2:00] but the secretary gave as good as he

[2:02] got.

[2:02] >> As you know, uh you go to war with the

[2:05] army you have.

[2:06] >> And he said there's only so much you can

[2:08] do to stop this.

[2:09] >> You can have all the armor in the world

[2:12] on a tank

[2:14] uh and a tank can be blown up.

[2:17] >> Rumsfeld told the troops the top brass

[2:20] is delivering new equipment as fast as

[2:21] it can be made and doing what it can in

[2:24] the meantime. You got this built here

[2:26] >> on this door, right?

[2:28] >> Yeah.

[2:28] >> After each attack, special teams

[2:30] investigate what else can be done to

[2:32] protect the soldiers and try to fix it.

[2:34] >> Thank God we had it in there or we'd

[2:36] have soldiers lose some legs.

[2:38] >> Soldiers must now wear eye protection

[2:39] and earplugs, for instance, whenever

[2:41] they hit the road after dozens lost

[2:43] eyesight or hearing from explosions. And

[2:46] after so many gunners were cut down,

[2:48] they've added a skirt of armor to

[2:50] protect them from a hail of shrapnel

[2:52] from below. Troops now use everything

[2:54] from electronic jamming devices to stop

[2:56] remote bombs from being triggered to

[2:58] attack helicopters above convoys to spot

[3:01] the threat ahead. Still, many here feel

[3:04] they're always one step behind the

[3:06] enemy. The frank talk didn't amount to

[3:08] what you'd call a break in the ranks,

[3:10] but many are frustrated and angry that

[3:12] it took so many American lives before

[3:14] gear and tactics were changed. Kimberly

[3:17] Doer, CBS News, Baghdad. Those soldiers

[3:21] in Kuwait are not the only ones facing

[3:23] duty in Iraq who think they've gotten a

[3:24] raw deal. The most serious challenge

[3:27] comes from several soldiers who are now

[3:29] suing the army over the so-called stop

[3:31] loss rule that lets the military extend

[3:34] their enlistments in wartime. As CBS's

[3:37] Wyatt Andrews reports, one of those

[3:39] soldiers appeared in court today.

[3:42] He's an American soldier in court to ask

[3:45] a judge for an order to stop his return

[3:47] to Iraq. In a challenge to the

[3:50] controversial stop-loss policy,

[3:52] 34year-old Army veteran David Falls

[3:55] essentially charges he was hoodwinkedked

[3:57] by his recruiter who promised a one-year

[3:59] Army deal knowing that stop-loss and the

[4:02] chance of an extended enlistment was in

[4:04] effect. Quall's lawyer, Jules Lobell,

[4:07] told the judge this program is

[4:08] fraudulent inducement and that Quall's

[4:10] extended service amounts to involuntary

[4:13] servitude.

[4:14] >> If this contract not identify a term of

[4:17] service, then no military contract does.

[4:20] And whenever you join the military now,

[4:22] you join for life. The Pentagon,

[4:24] however, calls stop loss legal under all

[4:26] recruit.