WASHINGTON – Maine Sen. Susan Collins sharply questioned Pentagon leaders Thursday over the military’s ability to properly supply U.S. troops in Iraq.

The Republican senator said e-mail she has received from troops stationed in the war zone cite a need for supplies as basic as water, radios and ammunition.

Reading from one letter during a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting, Collins said:

“We have tried to get ammo from other sources and through our proper chain of command. In this case we’ve been told to get Iraqi weapons and ammo as backup weapons. We’ve done this, but nobody’s very confident with this plan. We have very little training in their weapons. We are not qualified with the AK-47. We’ve not sighted these weapons and they’re not as reliable as our American weapons.”

Two other e-mails from Maine troops raised concerns over the lack of water and working radios for their units, according to a statement released by Collins Thursday.

“In each case, these soldiers are telling me that they went up the chain of command and just couldn’t get what they needed,” said Collins. “I have received a sufficient number of similar reports from our troops that I have to believe there’s some sort of logistics problem,” she continued.

Attending the hearing were Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers.

“This isn’t a question of money,” she told them. “You know that we in Congress will give you all that you need to make sure that our troops … have everything they need.

“Why are we still having these problems with such basic supplies, not to mention safety equipment, like the up-armored Humvees and body armor?” she asked.

Myers pledged to look into the problems, and agreed that the chain of command should have been able to respond to troops’ needs without congressional intervention.

“These soldiers are telling me that they went up the chain of command and just couldn’t get what they needed.”
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins