Better armor lacking for new troops in Iraq

WASHINGTON - The thousands of troops that President Bush is expected to order to Iraq will join the fight largely without the protection of the latest armored vehicles that withstand bomb blasts far better than the Humvees in wide use, military officers said.

Vehicles such as the Cougar and the M1117 Armored Security Vehicle have proven ability to save lives, but production started late and relatively small numbers are in use in Iraq, mostly because of money shortages, industry officials said.

More than 1,000 American troops have been killed by roadside bombs since the war began in March 2003. At present there are fewer than 1,000 of the new armored trucks in Iraq. At $500,000 to $700,000 each, they cost more than twice as much as a standard Humvee, but already they are proving their worth.

LSB: Too few of these life-saving armored vehicles due to "money shortages?" What does $350+ BILLION buy these days? Would we have more of these vehicles if the contract had gone to Halliburton to build them? We probably wouldn't have any more vehicles, but Cheney would have found the money for Halliburton. So the question remains: why not put that same effort into finding the money for these life-saving vehicles from another source? Don't our troops deserve at least that amount of effort from this administration?