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Hoooo-rah! Rummy finally got called on the carpet. Not by the president, of course, but by troops fighting in Iraq. Some of them are finally fed up enough to rumble about his back-door draft and failure to provide them with the proper armor for their Humvees, leaving them scrambling to improvise with what they call "hillbilly armor." The defense secretary had been expected to go to Iraq on this trip but spent the day greeting troops in Kuwait instead. Even though Pentagon officials insist that security wasn't an issue, I bet they had to be worried not to travel the...

Let there be no mistake - I am a strong supporter of GW Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. I am an even bigger supporter of our soldiers in Iraq. After reading stories of our troops and even their commanders pleading for adequately armored vehicles, I did an Internet search for modern armored vehicles designed for heavy armor. Upgrading Humvees with armor isn't a good solution since they aren't designed for the weight and the upgrades are moving too slowly, so I specifically searched for available vehicles worldwide designed for heavy armor. After only a few links, I found this interesting site:...

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (AP) -- Disgrunted U.S. soldiers complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday about the lack of armor for their vehicles and long deployments, drawing a blunt retort from the Pentagon chief. "You go to war with the Army you have," he said in a rare public airing of rank-and-file concerns among the troops.In his prepared remarks earlier, Rumsfeld had urged the troops - mostly National Guard and Reserve soldiers - to discount critics of the war in Iraq and to help "win the test of wills" with the insurgents.Some of soldiers, however, had criticisms of...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2004 – Some soldiers headed for duty in Iraq took the secretary of defense at his word in Kuwait today when he encouraged them to ask him tough questions at a town-hall meeting. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was in Kuwait to visit U.S. troops at Camp Buehring, a military compound about 40 miles south of the Iraq border. The camp is a staging area where troops headed for Iraq receive training on tactical convoy operations. In his opening remarks, Rumsfeld told the troops that the American people "are deeply grateful" for their efforts and that they...

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — In a rare public airing of grievances, disgruntled soldiers complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (search) on Wednesday about long deployments and a lack of armored vehicles and other equipment. "You go to war with the Army you have," Rumsfeld replied, "not the Army you might want or wish to have."

"You go to war with the Army you have," not the one you might want, was the retort of Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld as reported by CNN to questioning by troops after a morning conference at Camp Buehring, Kuwait . This particular inquiry (as reported by the AP ), presented by Thomas Wilson of the 278th Regimental Combat Team concerned the logistics of combat: "Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?" Wilson asked. "We do not have proper armored vehicles to carry with...

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (Reuters) - An American soldier complained to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Wednesday troops were being forced to dig up scrap metal to protect their vehicles in Iraq (news - web sites) because of a shortage of armored transport. "A lot of us are getting ready to move north (into Iraq)," the soldier said to Rumsfeld during a question-and-answer session with hundreds of troops at the Camp Buehring military base, 12 miles south of the Iraq border in Kuwait. "Now why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic...

Defense chief speaks to soldiers heading to Iraq. CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (AP) -- After delivering a pep talk designed to energize troops preparing to head for Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld got a little "talking to" himself from disgruntled soldiers. In his prepared remarks, Rumsfeld urged the troops -- mostly National Guard and Reserve soldiers -- to discount critics of the war in Iraq and to help "win the test of wills" with the insurgents. Some of soldiers, however, had criticisms of their own -- not of the war itself but of how it is being fought. Army Spc. Thomas...

A reporter traveling with a National Guard unit prodded one of its soldiers to ask Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about the lack of armor for some U.S. military vehicles in Iraq, an exchange that made worldwide news Wednesday when the assembled troops cheered the question. Edward Lee Pitts of the Chattanooga Times Free Press told colleagues in an e-mail that he and members of the Tennessee Army National Guard now in Kuwait "worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armor" and that Spec. Thomas Wilson posed the question at his request. President Bush and Rumsfeld...