Impeachment detail number 5461

Just add this disgusting factoid to the Articles of Impeachment.

Gaps in the armor
The U.S. has been at war for almost three years in Iraq. But American troops still may not have the kind of body-armor protection they deserve.

Again and again, this issue has flared. At first there was a shortage of the advanced ceramic armor that could stop bullets fired from assault rifles. Then the problem evolved into replacing those ceramic plates with thicker, more resistant models that could withstand certain munitions that insurgents had begun using.

Over the weekend, the latest vulnerability came to light in The New York Times: A Pentagon study found that as many as 80 percent of the Marines killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor that covered more of the torso.

About a quarter of the 401 Marine combat deaths between March 2003 and June 2005 were caused by torso wounds, the study said. In many of those cases--at least 74 of 93 fatal torso wounds--bullets and shrapnel hit in the shoulders, sides or parts of the torso where the plates didn't reach.

Often the fatal wounds in the chest or back were so close to plates that simply enlarging the existing shield “would have had the potential to alter the fatal outcome,” according to the study produced by the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner.

The armor has reportedly been available since 2003. The Marine Corps began buying additional plates to cover the sides of troops' bodies last September, ordering 28,800 sets, the paper reported. Army officials announced Tuesday they will order side-panel inserts for soldiers' body armor. There are about 130,000 Army troops in Iraq.
...The new Pentagon report dispels any lingering doubts. Expanded armor can save soldiers' lives. Moreover, some soldiers in Iraq complain that insurgents are growing increasingly adept at exploiting the gaps in their armor.

The debate's over. This country asks much of its soldiers. They deserve, in return, the best protection they can get.

Impeachment is actually too good for the criminals who are in charge of our country. How about we 'get a rope' instead.

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This page contains a single entry by Seth A. published on January 11, 2006 10:47 AM.

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