Pentagon cuts armored vehicles due in Iraq in 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. troops in Iraq will receive at least 1,000 fewer special armored vehicles than expected this year due to the amount of time needed for shipment, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the Defense Department expected defense contractors to produce 3,900 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles this year. But only 1,500 would make it to the war zone -- down from the Pentagon's previous shipment target of 2,500 to 3,000.

"If we could get 1,500 to theater by the end of this year, that would be a positive development," Morrell said.
Pentagon cuts armored vehicles due in Iraq in 2007 | Politics | Reuters

The contractor should have to explain.......these vehicles save lives.

Have a good one!:s4:

that sucks, i don't agree with them being over there, but since they are over there, they should be equipped to survive.

WOW thats bad.I feel sorry for your troops over there.

Is this the contractors fault, or did our govt forget about the transportation part of the equation? Sounds like Dubya to me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MajMike

Is this the contractors fault, or did our govt forget about the transportation part of the equation? Sounds like Dubya to me.

---

Sounded more like the contractors aren't delivering product.......

Have a good one!:s4:

No, it's the fact that it takes many months to build them, equip them and ship them (on ships, mostly -- they are too big for most planes -- which adds another month or more to delivery. So none of the ones that have just been contracted for, and will be built between now and November, will meet the January delivery date.

Keep in mind that these are brand-new vehicles for us, and we are just now gearing up to produce them. There ain't no damned conspiracy to deny our troops what they need, just a slow-headed, built-in government/military learning disability, no matter who is in charge. Our troops will have all they need of them and then some, even if it's too late and utterly useless in the next conflict.

The troops should of had these from the start. But I'm sure our Saudi friends will have no delay on that $20 billion weapon deal they just got.:mad:

At the start, they had no need of them. There were no roadside Iranian-supplied shaped-charge explosively-formed-penetrator IEDs. Were you blissfully unaware of that? Or were you the only one who foresaw the need for MRAPS back then? Did you know that we just didn't have a vehicle like that, even in blueprints? Do you have any idea how long it takes to invent a new armored vehicle, qualify it, manufacture it, equip it and ship it? No, I don't think you do.

I don't care if the enemy only had sling shots. Our guys should of had the best from the very start... or not have even been in Iraq at all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ohkelly

At the start, they had no need of them. There were no roadside Iranian-supplied shaped-charge explosively-formed-penetrator IEDs. Were you blissfully unaware of that? Or were you the only one who foresaw the need for MRAPS back then? Did you know that we just didn't have a vehicle like that, even in blueprints? Do you have any idea how long it takes to invent a new armored vehicle, qualify it, manufacture it, equip it and ship it? No, I don't think you do.

---

Uhhhh - Have you forgotten the ammunition caches that our military neglected to secure on their way to Baghdad? You know, the ones that were empty when they returned.

Neither Cluster Fuck George nor his ass-kissing military commanders had a clue what they were doing and it is 100% their fault that the explosives are available for the IEDs.

Fuck this war, fuck Iraq! How many of our soldiers have died while the Iraqi Parliment enjoys their one-month vacation? Let the politicians who voted for the war, and their sons and daughters and wives and sisters, let them fight this fucking war. Then we would see how important they really think it is.

PC :pimp:

I suppose it's a possibility, they are preparing for a pull-out, in the future ... who knows ?? ... so we don't watch the helicopters etc., being pushed into the sea, like we did in VietNam ...

I almost bought stock in this company, I went from 15.00 a share to 25.00 a share and back to 15.00. I wonder if the govt. cancelled some contracts? I guess some made out that bought @ 15 and sold @ 25, I missed out. As soon as they deploy these vehicles, there will be found a new weapon that can defeat them, this is how war works, and the war contractors get richer and richer.

While it's true there have been elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Iraq giving bomb making expertise to insurgents, to imply that the beginning of the Iraqi quagmire was low tech weapons-wise is completely false.

When a call for jihad goes out, radical muslims come from all around to join in. In this case, it's common knowledge that many war-hardened Chechyans joined in, bringing tactics and materials that are potent threats to our guys to this day.


If anyone has any definitive links as to who is to blame for this shortage, feel free to provide them. To me, at this point, I'd be more apt to suspect the Pentagon brass and the White House as they're the ones with an established history of failing to provide our troops with what they need, be it armor or other crucial things - like tangible objectives and an exit strategy. May I remind you all that Donald Rumsfeld squashed any talk of that in 'his' Pentagon, and furthermore put out a memo threatening to fire anyone devoting time on said exit strategy. And let's not forget his infamous, callous remark of "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want."
Privately owned military suppliers here stateside have proven themselves to be utterly devoted to the troops and extremely proud and confidant in their work.

Were I a betting man, my money would be on the government as the culprit here.

Quote:

---

As soon as they deploy these vehicles, there will be found a new weapon that can defeat them, this is how war works, and the war contractors get richer and richer.

---

Quite so, 'Necessity is the mother of invention, but war is the father' as they say. A harsh reality of the times, but some of us feel a little queasy at the notion of American lives and families being consumed in that process. Which is why I pruned my portfolio a long time ago - I can make my investments work without playing ball with the war industry.