Your link makes a very good point that congress controls what the army buys and how many...the military has to go through Congress for any changes. But by the same token, why did the military brass not make a stink about getting only 450 of the vehicles that we supposedly have such a desperate need for? Especially if the military made a stink about 'giving our troops the protection they need' and it was introduced seperately, there probably wouldn't be a single congressman voting against it for fear that someone in their district dies and gets blamed on them for not voting for armored humvees.
I happened to catch Massachusetts congressman Marty Meehan* ( not my rep. but he is a real POS) last evening on the news addressing some of this issue. His claim was that the Pentagon was full of arrogant military types who are simply set on doing things their way. I actually had thoughts while Meehan was speaking that there are military people who are subordinate to the likes of this weasel and have to contend with this sort of thing regularly. Hence, a "stink" is probably not always considered whenever the Military makes one.
*He is a member of both the House Armed Services and Judiciary Committees.
Almost no congressman or senator voted against the funding in the August supplemental. They would have given even more money had it been requested. Check the figures yourself if you have a doubt.