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Verify WND's facts - then trust.

Take for instance the very expensive "SAPI" ceramic body-armor inserts that have been in desperately short supply. The Army will be almost up to supplying the needs in combat areas this month (if suppliers meet their deadlines, but none of them are).

According to the head of 3rd Corps, all troops in Iraq now have SAPI. The supply convoy drivers travel from Kuwait to the Baghdad 15 hours a day on Iraqi Hwys to bring supplies to the troops. Over 180 have received purple hearts so far.

It is a big, complicated effort involving many.

There are powerful politicians without scruples using this as an election year issue - Senators who do nothing but criticize, hold up necessary funds, undermine the war effort...but CARE about the welfare of our troops.

PsyOp, please tell your daughter thanks for her service from a very grateful civilian.

I'm afraid there is a real issue here and its not a political stunt. FYI on the ceramic body armor, the Pentagon promised congress after hearings were held exposing the problem, that all troops in Iraq would have it by 12/31/04. DoD didn't get in on the issue until Congress put a blow torch to them which to me is amazing as it would only be common sense from my perspective. DoD didn't make that deadline which is probably where the commentator gets a dig in on them in the article. The army also issued a misleading press release a few weeks ago announcing that all troops in country or in route had 'vest'. What it didn't say was that they didn't all have plates. I confirmed this from several first hand sources. What is happening is that the plates are behind schedule and being shipped directly to Iraq where they hopefully will join troops inbound and those outbound will hotswap their ceramic plates with their replacements. Hopefully we are close (weeks to months) to having the body armor issue resolved. The vehicular armor is a more severe problem and is not nearly resolved. Pure incompetence within the Army is the root cause of it. Marines are more together in addressing the issue. It is namely sole sourced by the army. If you need details I can supply them. I would recommend being pro-active on this issue because otherwise supply vehicles and humvees will get their budget swiped by more glamorous projects and we'll face another year of 500 or so KIAs.

An interview with General Peter J. Schoomaker, Army Chief of Staff

You may have seen what we are doing with the Rapid Fielding Initiative: we are equipping now the three National Guard brigades that are going over. They are getting the very best equipment. Top of the line stuff. We have worked the armored vest, maximized production, increased from one to six vendors. This month we have finally provided enough body armor for every soldier in Iraq.

On the question of up-armored humvees, we are approaching that from multiple avenues. We have ramped up production, going from producing 80 up-armored humvees a month to 120.

We are spending over a billion dollars this year to better equip our soldiers. This is a big investment in soldiers. Our central focus is on the soldier.

This was taken from today's armed services committee hearing.

"BEN NELSON: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, General, it's a pleasure to be able to recognize the men and women in the military and the wonderful job that they do. It's also a sobering experience for my colleagues and I to call the parents, the spouses of those who have been lost in Iraq or anywhere around the world. My question today is going to be a basic question. General Pace, last November I asked Acting Secretary of the Army Brownlee when every soldier in Iraq would be equipped with the most advanced body armor. I asked this question after a constituent called my office to complain that his son was conducting house-to-house searches in Iraq and still wearing Kevlar. Secretary Brownlee said that all troops in Iraq would have the advanced body armor by December. My question, of course, is, do you know if this is now the case? PACE: Sir, it is the case. In fact, it was January, last month, that 100 percent of DOD, military and civilians, in Iraq had been issued to them individually the advanced body armor. And as we rotate the force, before they go into Iraq, the new troops will have issued to them the new body armor. And thanks to the funding of Congress, we have been able to take the initial capacity of industry -- when this war began, it was still in the technology environment -- we were able to take that 1,600-set- per-month capacity and we have built it up now, thanks to your funding, to 25,000 sets per month. PACE: So we have met the objective and we will be able to ensure that everyone continues to have it as they enter this country. BEN NELSON: Well, I now hear that the 1057th Transportation Company, part of the 37th Theater Company, isn't outfitted with advanced body armor. They have some newer vests, but not the insert of the body armor. And their mission, as you may know, is the transportation of supplies and personnel into southern Iraq, which then also takes them into harm's way on a very regular basis. Do you know whether they have or can you look into that if you don't know whether they have it by now? PACE: Sir, I will find out specifically whether or not every soldier in that unit has currently that. I can tell you for a fact that there are sufficient sets in Kuwait and in Iraq to have every single servicemember and DOD civilian have their own personal set and it is the plan to -- as they rotate, to ensure that each gets a set before they go in. But I will find out on that unit. BEN NELSON: Well, I thank you. And I know that all of you are committed to the best protection for our men and women in uniform and so you can appreciate the fact that when a call comes in from a parent concerned about the safety of his son or daughter, that that's a matter of critical interest and as well it should be. So I'll communicate that information back to that very concerned parent. PACE: Thank you, sir.