Secret Pentagon Study: "Extra Armor Could Have Saved Many Lives"

[kpete]

Extra Armor Could Have Saved Many Lives, Study Shows

By MICHAEL MOSS
Published: January 6, 2006
A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That 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, according to military officials.


Thirty-one of the deadly wounds struck the chest or back so close to the plates that simply enlarging the existing shields "would have had the potential to alter the fatal outcome," according to the study, which was obtained by The New York Times.

For the first time, the study by the military's medical examiner shows the cost in lost lives from inadequate armor, even as the Pentagon continues to publicly defend its protection of the troops. Officials have said they are shipping the best armor to Iraq as quickly as possible. At the same time, they have maintained that it is impossible to shield forces from the increasingly powerful improvised explosive devices used by insurgents. Yet the Pentagon's own study reveals the equally lethal threat of bullets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/politics/06cnd-armor.html?ex=1294203600&en=b13c10bd70ee9190&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[wavesofeuphoria]

1. What the hell are they waiting for????

from the article ...

"The vulnerability of the military's body armor has been known since the start of the war, and is part of a series of problems that have surrounded the protection of American troops. Still, the Marine Corps did not begin buying additional plates to cover the sides of their troops until this September, when it ordered 28,800 sets, Marine Corps officials acknowledge.

The Army, which has the largest force in Iraq, is still deciding what to purchase, according to Army procurement officials. They said the Army is deciding between various sizes of plates to give its 130,000 soldiers; the officials said they hope to issue contracts this month."

[kpete]

2. PDF link

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/international/20060107_ARMOR_TEXT.pdf

[gulfcoastliberal]

3. If the dems had smarts, they would trumpet this loud & clear

"We approved the money for the troops - but the Bush administration refused to provide critical equipment that would protect the troops despite having the resources to do so."

Why won't the dems ATTACK Bushco?! Excepting the select few who do take on the thugs. Where is Hillary on this? Where is Reid? Where is Kerry? Ugh!

[kpete]

4. Dems, if you don't take this issue and run with it now, you don't deserve

Secret Pentagon study finds at least 80% of marines killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived with body armor - where is it?
by John in DC - 1/06/2006 07:59:00 PM


Dems, if you don't take this issue and run with it now, you don't deserve to be in office.

They killed these people. And the Democrats are still whining that they can't get their body armor amendment passed. I COULD GET YOUR STUPID AMENDMENT PASSED WITH THESE KIND OF FACTS.

Jesus Christ people. Do something. Anything. Our troops are dying because Bush won't give them their armor. It's been 3 years. Do you think you could maybe, just once, do something when an issue is handed to you in your lap. And just as importantly, our troops are dying. How about, oh I don't know, fixing the frigging problem because we don't want them to die - even those of us who think this war is a disaster really want to do all we can to stop our troops from getting killed, hell, that's one of the major reasons we're against this war in the first place.

Good God. The Republicans' number one issue is that they're strong on defense and we're not. And now we know for a fact that they are killing our troops.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/01/secret-pentagon-study-finds-at-least.html


Fix it. Now. Or get out of office and make way for Democrats who can.

[Nikki Stone 1]

5. kick

:kick: