-- "Last week [May], two Army soldiers were killed when a bomb struck
their MRAP in Iraq."

Troops in Iraq get safer vehicle
Will withstand blasts better than Humvees
By Tom Vanden Brook
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will phase out its armored Humvees in Iraq
and Afghanistan and send in vehicles that better withstand roadside
bomb blasts, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

Replacing the Humvee, the military's main troop-transport vehicle,
will be the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, known as an MRAP.
Military officials say the new vehicles provide twice as much
protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which cause
70% of all U.S. casualties in Iraq.

Armored Humvees were "the best we had," Gates said. "Now we have
something better, and we're going to get that to the field as best we
can."

No Marines had been killed in the 300 attacks on Marine MRAPs in Anbar
province, USA TODAY reported on April 19. Last week, two Army soldiers
were killed when a bomb struck their MRAP in Iraq.

Humvees have had a tortured history since the Iraq war started in
March 2003. Few had armor in the early months of the war, but the rise
of IEDs led troops to add their own armor. Then Congress pushed the
Pentagon to buy armor kits and new, fully armored Humvees. The added
armor, though, made it more likely for the Humvee to roll over, and
its heavier doors trapped troops inside after attacks or accidents.

Getting the MRAPs is "the highest priority Department of Defense
acquisition program," Gates said in a memo last week to the
secretaries of the Army and Navy. In that memo, first reported
Wednesday by InsideDefense.com, Gates said he was concerned the
Marines has ordered 3,700 of the vehicles, while the Army only sought
2,500. The Army has about 100,000 troops in Iraq; the Marines have
25,000.

Gates and other Pentagon officials plan to meet Friday to determine
how many more vehicles the military will buy. "My understanding ... is
that the Army has been recalibrating its interest and has
substantially increased the number of these vehicles they think they
can use," Gates said.

The new vehicles feature a V-shaped hull that disperses explosions
below. All services have ordered a total of 7,700 MRAPs for $8 billion
over the next 18 months, but Gates indicated the Pentagon could buy
many more.

The Army now has 18,000 armored Humvees in Iraq. It originally planned
to spend another $2.5 billion this year to buy more, Army budget
records show.

Army spokesman Paul Boyce said Wednesday that the service has 1,100
mine-protected vehicles in Iraq. The MRAP won't completely replace the
Humvee in Iraq or future conflicts, he said.

Gates said production capacity is "nowhere near what it needs to be to
meet the demand on the part of either the Army or the Marine Corps."

In January, the Marines awarded testing and development contracts for
the MRAP to nine different defense contractors. A Marine contract for
1,000 MRAPs awarded last month indicated the order would be completed
by May 2008.

It's about time the Pentagon changed to the MRAP, said Sen. Joseph
Biden, D-Del., who has advocated buying more of the vehicles. "I am
glad they finally get it," he said.

Gates said Wednesday he learned of the Marines' success with the
vehicles from a newspaper article he did not identify. "That certainly
got my attention."

It also indicates that future U.S. adversaries will mimic the
insurgents' use of IEDs, which "have now been recognized as a national
Achilles' heel," said Michael O'Hanlon, an analyst at the Brookings
Institution. "If you're the military, you'd better fix it."

Page 1A

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070510/1a_lede10_dom.art.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------=

The pro-invasion media's much touted fabulous Cougar MRAP military so-
called mine resistant vehicle has failed.

The invasion has failed. There is now NO defense for people who invade
other people's countries.
The US must now leave that region.

-- "Last week [May], two Army soldiers were killed when a bomb struck
their MRAP in Iraq."


Troops in Iraq get safer vehicle
Will withstand blasts better than Humvees
By Tom Vanden Brook
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will phase out its armored Humvees in Iraq
and Afghanistan and send in vehicles that better withstand roadside
bomb blasts, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

Replacing the Humvee, the military's main troop-transport vehicle,
will be the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, known as an MRAP.
Military officials say the new vehicles provide twice as much
protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which cause
70% of all U.S. casualties in Iraq.

Armored Humvees were "the best we had," Gates said. "Now we have
something better, and we're going to get that to the field as best we
can."

No Marines had been killed in the 300 attacks on Marine MRAPs in Anbar
province, USA TODAY reported on April 19. Last week, two Army soldiers
were killed when a bomb struck their MRAP in Iraq.

Humvees have had a tortured history since the Iraq war started in
March 2003. Few had armor in the early months of the war, but the rise
of IEDs led troops to add their own armor. Then Congress pushed the
Pentagon to buy armor kits and new, fully armored Humvees. The added
armor, though, made it more likely for the Humvee to roll over, and
its heavier doors trapped troops inside after attacks or accidents.

Getting the MRAPs is "the highest priority Department of Defense
acquisition program," Gates said in a memo last week to the
secretaries of the Army and Navy. In that memo, first reported
Wednesday by InsideDefense.com, Gates said he was concerned the
Marines has ordered 3,700 of the vehicles, while the Army only sought
2,500. The Army has about 100,000 troops in Iraq; the Marines have
25,000.

Gates and other Pentagon officials plan to meet Friday to determine
how many more vehicles the military will buy. "My understanding ... is
that the Army has been recalibrating its interest and has
substantially increased the number of these vehicles they think they
can use," Gates said.

The new vehicles feature a V-shaped hull that disperses explosions
below. All services have ordered a total of 7,700 MRAPs for $8 billion
over the next 18 months, but Gates indicated the Pentagon could buy
many more.

The Army now has 18,000 armored Humvees in Iraq. It originally planned
to spend another $2.5 billion this year to buy more, Army budget
records show.

Army spokesman Paul Boyce said Wednesday that the service has 1,100
mine-protected vehicles in Iraq. The MRAP won't completely replace the
Humvee in Iraq or future conflicts, he said.

Gates said production capacity is "nowhere near what it needs to be to
meet the demand on the part of either the Army or the Marine Corps."

In January, the Marines awarded testing and development contracts for
the MRAP to nine different defense contractors. A Marine contract for
1,000 MRAPs awarded last month indicated the order would be completed
by May 2008.

It's about time the Pentagon changed to the MRAP, said Sen. Joseph
Biden, D-Del., who has advocated buying more of the vehicles. "I am
glad they finally get it," he said.

Gates said Wednesday he learned of the Marines' success with the
vehicles from a newspaper article he did not identify. "That certainly
got my attention."

It also indicates that future U.S. adversaries will mimic the
insurgents' use of IEDs, which "have now been recognized as a national
Achilles' heel," said Michael O'Hanlon, an analyst at the Brookings
Institution. "If you're the military, you'd better fix it."

Page 1A

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070510/1a_lede10_dom.art.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The pro-invasion media's much touted fabulous Cougar MRAP military so-
called mine resistant vehicle has failed.

The invasion has failed. There is now NO defense for people who invade
other people's countries.
The US must now leave that region.