Body armor could've saved 80% of marines killed by upper body wounds

[ProSense]

Most Marines killed in Iraq could have been saved by body armor
Sat Jan 7, 1:02 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP ) - A secret Pentagon study found that as many as 80 percent of Marines killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor, The New York Times reports.

"Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection," the Times reported citing unnamed military officials.

"For the first time, the study by the military's medical examiner shows the cost in lives from inadequate armor, even as the Pentagon continues to publicly defend its protection of the troops," the report said.

The United States has "maintained that it is impossible to shield forces from the increasingly powerful improvised explosive devices used by insurgents in Iraq. Yet the Pentagon's own study reveals the equally lethal threat of bullets," the report stressed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060107/ts_alt_afp/usiraqmilitaryreport_060107055554



WTF?????

[stray cat]

1. What is the percentage that were killed due to upper body wounds?

Inadequate armor was and is terrible. However, the title is misleading - its not 80% of those who were killed it is 80% of those who died from an upper body wound and did not have upper body armor.

[ProSense]

2. Edited the title, but 80%

is a tragically high number if even 10 are in this group.

And that statement about 2003, shouldn't Rumsfeld's head roll for this?

[stray cat]

7. I agree - Supporting the troops means equipping them.

There is no excuse in a voluntary war not to have better planed or cared for the soldiers.

[nuxvomica]

4. Further down the article says 340 died from such wounds

So the number that could've been saved is 272!

[mikelewis]

3. Not being there would probably have saved more.

[salin]

5. Yet Rumsfeld turned the story of under equipping in Iraq

onto the person asking the question. Complete disregard for those asked to make the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country.

[SmokingJacket]

6. If just a few million bucks had been used, out of the TRILLIONS

that have been lost.

The parents and family of those soldiers must be out of their minds with fury.

[leftofthedial]

8. yeah yeah yeah, and reasonable safety precautions could save miners

but they are all just expendable fodder for the corporate machine

quit whining and go buy something you commie

[Rhiannon12866]

9. This is unconscionable!

But "we go to war with the army we have...":grr: