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Kovco comrade blasts 'cheap' army
A FORMER roommate of Private Jake Kovco, Australia's first military casualty in Iraq, has accused the army of making troops in Baghdad use second-rate equipment.The Baghdad-based private also accused the army of being "cheap" over the repatriation of Pte Kovco's body, and of forcing troops to use what he branded poor resources while on stressful and dangerous missions in Iraq. His outburst came in a written statement tendered today to a board of inquiry into Pte Kovco's death. The soldier, who can only be identified as Soldier 17, said pistols issued to Australian troops were old, and there were not enough of them. Based on his own personal experience, Soldier 17 said his rifle didn't work for the first three weeks he was in Iraq and he had been forced to wait for body armour during his training. "We are exposed and (have) insufficient resources," he said. "It is a matter of time before someone else dies because of these things." Posted by: Oztralian 2006-06-19 |
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