EDITORIAL - Today, the United States has agreed to help modernize the Polish military in exchange for that country's commitment to host a part of a global missile defense shield. This new deal comes while American soldiers in hostile combat in Afghanistan and Iraq have warned that they are in desperate of vital equipment, from armored vehicles to body armor. "It is appalling that our troops are fighting a war in Humvees armored with scrap metal and plywood while the President promises to help modernize the military of another country," says Shane Cory, executive director of the Libertarian Party.

"Bush remembered Poland, but forgot America," says Cory, referring to Bush's famous quip from a 2004 Presidential debate where he reminded Sen. John Kerry that Poland was a key participant in the U.S. coalition in Iraq. "The President's duty as Commander-in-Chief is to lead his own military. It is an unmitigated failure of duty to put the military interests of another country above America's. We have soldiers dying everyday because of either outdated equipment, or no equipment at all, yet Bush is promising to modernize Poland's military?"

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, soldiers and commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan have warned that they suffer from a severe lack of equipment. Some soldiers have resorted to scavenging for scrap metal in hopes of armoring ill-equipped Humvees. Additionally, U.S. Marines in combat are asking for their old armor vests back after the new vests were found to be impractical for combat. The Pentagon ordered 84,000 units of these new vests.

"Soldiers in a foreign country are going to be benefiting from equipment that should have gone to save American lives," says Andrew Davis, national media coordinator for the Libertarian Party. "There is no way to rationalize this betrayal of our men and women in combat. President Bush has put politics ahead of the safety of our troops."

The Libertarian Party has opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq since it began in 2003. The Libertarian National Committee, the governing body of the Libertarian Party, recently passed a resolution calling for a total withdrawal from Iraq "without undue delay."