‘The food is tasteless and there’s not nearly enough and they’re hungry all the time’

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/iran-war-soldiers-food-shortages-mail-b2959960.html


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[–] 26 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (14 children)

I am an American, I also read it so I can answer you.

The military is feeding the troops, just very poorly and quite frankly this should be a huge scandal. People are also sending food via care packages to their family members but military zip codes across the region were “closed indefinitely” so there’s no where to deliver to. The air spaces are closed because the region is at war. In the paragraph directly after the part about airspace:

“Interruptions and delays in mail service have been a part of every American conflict since the Revolutionary War,” he told the outlet. “Communications and supply networks that work well during peacetime are invariably disrupted during wartime."

It’s a supply lines during wartime thing

If we can’t even feed our troops or keep the most basic function of our government open as opposed to just disrupted, the US is founded on our post office practically! it’s a very bad sign for us being able to keep supply lines open for a war.

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  • [–] 11 points 6 months ago* (12 children)

    Thanks for replying but this doesn't give me a satisfactory answer. I understand that during war you as a civilian may not always be able to deliver items to troops, and that the post may not always be able to reach places.

    However the country should try to feed those troops and keep them alive, otherwise what's the point? Why would you kill your own troops?

    If it is well known that you have this group of people starving, why isn't the government doing anything about it? Why aren't they even bothering to reach them? Forget the post, the "best army in the world" can't spare a single vehicle with supplies to reach starving troops? It's not a situation of nationwide famine or poverty. They have resources. I just don't understand why this is being allowed to happen. There isn't a reason stated anywhere for the post to stop working, or for the army to not do anything. Who benefits from this? The whole situation appears to be easily preventable and solvable yet nobody in a position of power is doing anything? Why?

    TLDR basically I don't understand why it's not a scandal and why anyone is trying to fix it. You said the army is feeding the troops but poorly and this leaves me just as puzzled.

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    I think there’s a misunderstanding in how the situation is being presented.

    The troops are not being starved or abandoned. They are being fed through military supply lines, which are separate from civilian systems like the postal service. The issue is that the food they’re getting isn’t great, which is common in active war zones where logistics prioritize calories and durability over taste or variety.

    What you’re seeing about mail being “closed” is about care packages from family. Those go through military postal systems, and in a combat zone those systems can be shut down or restricted for safety and logistical reasons. It doesn’t mean the military stopped supplying food, it just means families can’t send extra snacks or comfort items right now.

    So the situation is more about poor quality of life and disrupted mail, not troops being left without food or intentionally neglected.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    Given that various articles are talking about soldiers "rationing" their food, I don't know that they are being fed adequately regardless of whether they're getting a variety or if they're stuck with the least-eaten MREs.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    Okay, this does give me a satisfactory answer however it raises other questions, perhaps for another occasion. My take from you is that this is relatively normal and that the media is fussing too much over this. Fair, it's not nice but at least I'm not puzzled, thanks for the answer

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  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    This war is being incredibly mismanaged on every level in the US. There's no strategy, there's no objective, there's no plan.

    Food quality is dropping because they didn't plan, this isn't about front line troops where there's supply line issues due to enemy actions.

    This is all self inflicted. It should be a scandal of incompetence.

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    This is far from normal. The United States is typically highly effective at maintaining resilient supply chains. What this situation reveals is just how poorly planned these decisions have been. There is no clear justification for how things have unfolded.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    The secretary of defense is out here talking about holy wars and shit. The patients are running the asylum. This is just standard bureaucratic collapse. It turns out that incompetence and poor leadership have predictable consequences!

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