Not surprisingly, there are at least a couple of lies in this little press release. First, General Ellis is Commander of U.S. Forces Command, based at Ft. McPherson, GA, outside Atlanta. He doesn't lead or command anything in Iraq. As FORSCOM commander, he heads a supporting command, i.e. he sends units to support the warfighting CINC, in this case General Abazaid of CENTCOM. Additionally, when a FORSCOM unit arrives in theater, Ellis loses operational control of them--they become a CENTCOM asset. Ellis' role in Iraq is nothing more than interested spectator...Kerry's press release makes it sound like a senior American commander IN THEATER is complaining about the lack of armoved HMVEES.
Secondly, General Ellis' memo is, essentially, a push for more Stryker combat vehicles which recently entered service in Iraq. That begs an obvious question: how did Senator Kerry vote on the Stryker program? The GOP counterpoint should be: how many times did Kerry vote against a vehicle that could save lives in Iraq?
You have a good point. How much of this statement is truth and how much is the "Stryker Mafia" supporting its cause?
Is Stryker, I would assume still in low production, the answer? How about an up armored USMC LAV. Not nearly as big as the Stryker, but in the standard configurations has more firepower. I don't know their relative armor levels, but the LAV is small enough for city streets and the 25mm cannon is sweet.