The Army has taken a lot of heat lately for sending tens of thousands of soldiers into Iraq without adequate protection. Lawmakers and troops and their families have all complained that the G.I.s lack the latest bulletproof vests. Too many of the U.S. military's humvees don't have enough armor to protect the soldiers inside. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter that Iraqis downed Nov. 2, though equipped with the standard package of defensive flares and chaff, was not carrying the newest and most sophisticated antimissile system, which might have protected it from the shoulder-fired missile that apparently brought it down, killing 16.
The...
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