More on the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
Planning ahead does not seem to be the long suit of the current regime. There were obviously no plans in place for the hours and days (and now months and years) after the US military took out a third rate army and a fourth rate dictator in Iraq. As a result, weapons depots were left unguarded, as were strategic infrastructure sites. There simply weren't enough boots on the ground because the Pentagon, led by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, believed our technological superiority would make the presence of so many soldiers redundant. Besides, they calculated, the Iraqis would be so happy at being liberated that they would greet the occupying force with flowers and candy. Instead, the soldiers have been greeted with improvised explosive devices and mortar rounds.
Now we learn that the poor planning goes even deeper. The soldiers who are there don't have the appropriate protective equipment they need under these circumstances. As the NY Times reports, the results are that there are higher casualties and deaths than there had to be.
A secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. 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, according to military officials.
The ceramic plates in vests now worn by the majority of troops in Iraq cover only some of the chest and back. In at least 74 of the 93 fatal wounds that were analyzed in the Pentagon study of marines from March 2003 through June 2005, bullets and shrapnel struck the marines' shoulders, sides or areas of the torso where the plates do not reach.
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.
...Military officials said they had originally decided against using the extra plates because they were concerned they added too much weight to the vests or constricted the movement of soldiers. Marine Corps officials said the findings of the Pentagon study caused field commanders to override those concerns in the interest of greater protection.
"As the information became more prevalent and aware to everybody that in fact these were casualty sites that they needed to be worried about, then people were much more willing to accept that weight on their body," said Maj. Wendell Leimbach, a body armor specialist with Marine Corps Systems Command, the corps procurement unit.
...Military officials and contractors said the Pentagon's procurement troubles had stemmed in part from miscalculations that underestimated the strength of the insurgency, and from years of cost-cutting that left some armoring companies on the brink of collapse as they waited for new orders. [Emphasis added]
Obviously, soldiers cannot perform efficiently if they are totally encased in ceramic plates: the weight and loss of mobility problems are obvious. Still, providing better body armor should have been a top priority once the methodology of the insurgents became clear, which was early on. Instead, the Pentagon pinched pennies and engaged in inter-service rivalry games and one-upsmanship.
Apparently adequately armoring the grunt didn't fit into the high-tech, blow'em up with computer guided drones war Rumsfield and his minions had imagined. And when this imaginary war didn't play out as expected, the brass did what this regime typically did: they classified the problem as double super secret. We wouldn't want to tip off the insurgents(who were right there, on the ground, seeing how effective the IEDs were) on anything.
Outrageous. Murderously so.
Now we learn that the poor planning goes even deeper. The soldiers who are there don't have the appropriate protective equipment they need under these circumstances. As the NY Times reports, the results are that there are higher casualties and deaths than there had to be.
A secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. 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, according to military officials.
The ceramic plates in vests now worn by the majority of troops in Iraq cover only some of the chest and back. In at least 74 of the 93 fatal wounds that were analyzed in the Pentagon study of marines from March 2003 through June 2005, bullets and shrapnel struck the marines' shoulders, sides or areas of the torso where the plates do not reach.
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.
...Military officials said they had originally decided against using the extra plates because they were concerned they added too much weight to the vests or constricted the movement of soldiers. Marine Corps officials said the findings of the Pentagon study caused field commanders to override those concerns in the interest of greater protection.
"As the information became more prevalent and aware to everybody that in fact these were casualty sites that they needed to be worried about, then people were much more willing to accept that weight on their body," said Maj. Wendell Leimbach, a body armor specialist with Marine Corps Systems Command, the corps procurement unit.
...Military officials and contractors said the Pentagon's procurement troubles had stemmed in part from miscalculations that underestimated the strength of the insurgency, and from years of cost-cutting that left some armoring companies on the brink of collapse as they waited for new orders. [Emphasis added]
Obviously, soldiers cannot perform efficiently if they are totally encased in ceramic plates: the weight and loss of mobility problems are obvious. Still, providing better body armor should have been a top priority once the methodology of the insurgents became clear, which was early on. Instead, the Pentagon pinched pennies and engaged in inter-service rivalry games and one-upsmanship.
Apparently adequately armoring the grunt didn't fit into the high-tech, blow'em up with computer guided drones war Rumsfield and his minions had imagined. And when this imaginary war didn't play out as expected, the brass did what this regime typically did: they classified the problem as double super secret. We wouldn't want to tip off the insurgents(who were right there, on the ground, seeing how effective the IEDs were) on anything.
Outrageous. Murderously so.
posted by Diane at 5:19 AM
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