[Vision2020] Surge Troops Lack Armor; Rumsfeld's Fault

[nickgier at adelphia.net]

>From the Jan 21 Baltimore Sun:

"On Jan. 10, The Sun reported that most of the 21,500 troops President Bush has ordered to Iraq as reinforcements will not have access to specialized blast-resistant armored vehicles because they are in such short supply.

But the problem runs deeper than that. In congressional testimony and interviews last week, senior Army and Marine Corps officers acknowledged that they are struggling just to meet the needs of service members already in Iraq. Even if the Pentagon can find millions of dollars not currently budgeted, and even if it can find factories to produce the armored vehicles, most U.S. troops in Iraq will not have access to the best equipment available, as President Bush has often promised.

The Army acknowledged last week, for example, that it is still 22 percent short of the armored Humvees it needs in Iraq despite heated criticism in 2004 and 2005 over the lack of armored vehicles. Army officials said it will be another eight months before that gap can be filled.

'Inexcusable' But with roadside bombs and other explosive devices accounting for 70 percent of American casualties in Iraq, senior officers acknowledged that even heavily armored Humvees don't provide enough protection." URL: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-t e.armor21jan21,0,5605284.story

Rummy wouldn't authorize overtime payments to retrofitting companies and the Pentagon has to "find millions of dollars not currently budgeted." However, the defense supplementals, which presumably are supposed to provide "off-budget" finaincing for he iraq and Afghanistan wars are chocked full of requests for new and current weapons systems (such as fighter jets and the Army's Future Combat Systems)that a)should be included in the regular defense budget, and; b) not necessary for the current conflicts.