“Based on analysis in theater,” the solicitation notice says, such underwear will drastically improve casualty recovery and reduce secondary infections.”
This is especially important in such places as Helmand province, where patrols in agricultural areas must be done on foot on narrow, often mined, paths along irrigation canals and such.
The double -weave silk underwear, which looks pretty much like bicycle shorts, is not bulletproof. But it will block out smaller particles or “blast fragments” and thus lessen damage in the groin area and to the femoral artery.
In addition, the undies have an antibacterial treatment that should reduce the risk of infection. The Marines say no source except the British supplier “provides a battlefield tested undergarment,” though “we expect more sources to enter the marketplace” in the future.
Sounds as if they want immediate delivery, like maybe yesterday.
Scuttled diplomacy
President Obama’s ambassadorial team seems to have encountered a rough patch of late, courtesy of
WikiLeaks
and some bad reviews by the State Department inspector general. The ambassador to Malta, Douglas Kmiec, a well-known conservative law professor and prominent Catholic backer of Obama, announced this month that he was leaving.
The move came after the IG said Kmiec was spending too much time on issues such as abortion and faith and neglecting his ambassadorial work at the lovely Mediterranean island posting.
Another IG report in February blistered mega-contributor
Cynthia Stroum’s “abusive management style” at the embassy in Luxembourg and questioned expenditures there on travel, wine and liquor. She left the job just days before the report was released.
And a March IG report criticized another major Obama contributor, prominent Washington lawyer and Obama bundler Laurie Susan Fulton, who’s now ambassador to Denmark, for “being harsh in dealing with any lapses she perceives” among staff and for not delegating authority to staff there. “Where she perceives lapses,” the report said, “her response has been sharp and, to those affected, frequently unpredictable.”
“The reporting, analysis and outreach functions are operating below potential,” the report said, “due to the concentration of decisionmaking in the hands of the ambassador.”
On the other hand, the IG found that Fulton “has led an effective dialog with the Danes and been the driving force behind major initiatives on women’s issues and counterterrorism.”
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