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This comes from The Gavel
May 7th, 2007 by Jesse Lee
Extra armor causing Humvee doors to trap troops
Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today (Army Times republication) - May 7, 2007Kits to fix the problem were included in vetoed bill
The Army is fixing the doors of every armored Humvee in combat in Iraq because the doors can jam shut during an attack and trap soldiers inside, Pentagon records and interviews show.
The door trouble, the latest in a series of problems with the Humvees since the Iraq war began, is an unintended consequence of the Pentagon’s effort to add armor to protect troops from makeshift bombs. Improvised explosive devices are the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Iraq, causing 70 percent of injuries and deaths. Armored Humvees, the primary troop transport vehicle, are often targeted by insurgents who plant bombs on roads.
One quick fix to the jamming problem was to weld D-shaped hooks to Humvee doors so another truck could rip them off with a cable. The hook is built in to the latest version of armor added to the Humvee, known as the Frag Kit 5, said Lt. Col. William Wiggins, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon. “Every Humvee outside [a fortified base] will have a hook,” Wiggins said. There are about 18,000 Humvees in Iraq.
The Army plans to spend $284 million this year on armor kits, which also include improved door latches and stronger hinges to handle the heavier doors. The money is included in the emergency Iraq spending bill President Bush vetoed last week. Bush rejected the bill because it contained a timeline to withdraw troops from Iraq.
Rep. John Murtha closed the debate on final passage of the Iraq Accountability Act for House Democrats, and explained more about what was in the bill, what Republicans in Congress voted against, and what President Bush vetoed: SEE THIS
What Bush did was veto any support for our United States troops in Iraq. Impeach the bastard and Cheney along with him!
Tags: President Bush veto U.S.military Iraq
