Can't we do better?

First, the Pentagon has released the identity of the Marine killed Sunday in Husaybah during Operation Steel Curtain. He is Lance Cpl. Ryan J. Sorensen, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II MEF.

CNN's Arwa Damon is in Husaybah and Karabilah, embedded with the 6th Marines, and had this account.

The Marine killed Sunday had entered a house officials believed was used by insurgents. A group of Marines had cleared most of the home, and one found a locked door. As he was breaking down the door to enter the room, someone inside shot the Marine, military officials said.

After the Marine was shot, his comrades left the house, and the suspected shooter ran up to the roof and began firing at others on roofs of nearby buildings. Marines returned fire, killing the man.

Rest in peace, Lance Cpl. Sorensen.

This got me to looking at other recent casualties, and it prompted me to point something out to you, something I haven't written a lot about to this point. My correspondent has had a great deal to say on the subject, though I haven't passed on most of it in the dispatches, except for Dispatch from the Front VIII.

Here are many, but not all, of the casualties announced just since November 1. See if you find what they have in common.

Date Announced	Name	Assigned To	Circumstances
Nov 1	Spc. Kenny D. Rojas	3rd ID	landmine exploded near his HMMWV
Nov 1	Capt. Raymond D. Hill Sgt. Shakere T. Guy	ANG 184th IR	IED detonated near their HMMWV
Nov 2	SSgt. Wilgene T. Lieto Spc. Derence W. Jack	AR 29th BCT	IED detonated near their HMMWV
Nov 3	Spc. Dennis J. Ferderer Jr	3rd ID	hand grenade thrown at his HMMWV
Nov 4	2nd Lt. Mark J. Procopio	172nd IR	IED detonated near his HMMWV
Nov 4	Staff Sgt. Kyle B. Wehrly	123rd FA	IED detonated near his HMMWV
Nov 4	SSpc. Joshua J. Munger Spc. Benjamin A. Smith Pfc. Tyler R. MacKenzie	101st AD	IED detonated near their HMMWV
Nov 7	Spc. Timothy D. Brown	ANG 125th IR	land mine detonated near his HMMWV
Nov 7	Capt. James M. Gurbisz Pfc. Dustin A. Yancey	3rd ID	IED detonated near their HMMWV
Nov 7	Sgt. 1st Class James F. Hayes	101st AD	IED detonated near his HMMWV
Nov 8	Capt. Joel E. Cahill	3rd ID	IED detonated near his HMMWV

This is just in the last week or two. How many have been lost in Humvee-related incidents in the last two years?

The Humvee was not designed for this kind of environment. It was not intended to be an armored fighting vehicle. I don't know if the Humvees involved here were the uparmored variety or not, maybe they encountered the increasingly sophisticated insurgent bombs, but far too many soldiers have been lost in a vehicle not designed to protect them in the environment in which they were fighting.

The Pentagon has increased efforts to get more armor kits into Iraq this year, but nonetheless, the military did not go to war with an adequate vehicle.

And this is my biggest objection to how the war in Iraq has been handled. If you've read this site for five minutes, you'll know I'm very supportive of the efforts in Iraq. I think it is necessary that we be there, it is certainly necessary that we finish what we started.

This is the nation that in WWII moved mountains to build up war materials. Factories were converted from making civilian goods to military goods. Have we converted a single factory since 9/11? Have we been asked to conserve a single stick of butter?

We didn't go into Iraq with enough troops to adequately cover that size of a country, and we didn't go in with vehicles ready to meet the threat, and we didn't go in prepared to alter our lifestyle in any way in order to support the war effort.

Here are some of my correspondent's thoughts over time on this matter. Some of these go back a ways, before the latest efforts to bring in large numbers of armor kits. I don't include these here to try and give a picture of what the situation is like right now, today, but rather to at least give an idea of what things were like at one time.

Last week one of our units got hit with ied, front and rear humvee were the newer uparmor but the middle was just plastic and they waited for it until detonation. So they know what to look for. You want to discuss a travesty. This humvee armor fiasco and lack thereof has been in numerous news and even congressional inquires. I even heard someone say in a hearing recently, everyone has armor. BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is the biggest baldfaced lie ever. First, many many humvees are still driving around with madmax juryrigged homemade scrounged from whatever and wherever they can find it metal plywood and sandbag "armor". I know, they are here, i see it every day. I've seen it all over the country. And this after a friggin YEAR into the war?!! This from a country that builds a space shuttle. And we can't provide our sons and daughters the best money and technology can buy? it is unconscionable. Disgusting. EMBARRASSING. Second, many of the humvees have only a temporary fix of the uparmored doors and a few other angles. That constitutes the majority out there. Yes, many have it (and it took almost the entire last year to do it.) but they aren't true armored all around shells like the purpose built ones are.
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Now, I submit to you that a nation that can build a space shuttle, decode DNA, land on the moon can certainly provide the modern, updated and functioning armor and equipment I believe young troops who join the services trusting and believing in our leaders to ensure they sent them into harms way with modern weapons expect them to have when they sign on the dotted line. I invite (or DARE, if you have enough courage) any officer, congressional leader, industry representative to come visit lovely iraq and see for yourself the vast aray of thousands of Mad Max like vehicles and their bewildering assortment of jurg-rigged, welded on, slapped together armor packages.

Is it effective? I don't know but better than what some were given-NOTHING. Really, I think we can do better than bags of dirt and junkyard metal for our troops? To be sure, and in fairness, since last year the army has been scrambling to upgrade tens of thousands of vehicles. It's a logistical nightmare trying to get all that fixed.

In the meantime, missions have to be completed. The job has to get done. This war doesn't have a timeout for you if you dont have armor on your truck. Everyday kits of armor arrive and they take time to transport and install. Finally (FINALLY!) various trucks are getting an armored cab that is merely traded out for the old unarmored one. Not all trucks have these. Especially the older types that most guard or reserve units have. Many many many trucks each and every day drive around this country vulnerable. That's reality.

Guess you are out of luck snuffy! Ha. Better luck next time. Should have joined the regular army where you have a better chance and the latest and best equipment! And the humvees? The armored ones have kits to upgrade them since these bombs often times can blow right thru them. The unarmored ones have a vast array of various emergency bolt on kits the army desperately sent out. The majority of them have them. Some don't. That's reality.

I would add that the kits are not adequate for a full bomb blast. It's clear from lessons learned the hard way that these kits do not provide adequate protection in the event of a near blast. Once again, better than nothing though. But the armor ones from the factory are better than the add on armor kits.
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And don't get me started on that whole stryker brigade fiasco, they knowingly fielded a vehicle that cannot stop an rpg missle into a combat zone! And then bolted on metal cages for an interim fix?! All the time their are 10 thousands of surplus m113 that can cheaply be upgraded at 1/10th the cost and are more effected in sandy terrain, can go down narrow streets etc. I have seen dozens and dozens of homemade metal welded onto all kinds of vehicles. Insane. Whoever approved that crap a YEAR after occupation should be fired and then made to drive down an iraqi street in that crap with his family. Because that is what the young sons of america are doing every day, putting their lives on the line in substandard crap only worthy of some 2 bit 3rd world country not the US, a so called superpower. They look like something from mad max. ludicrous, embarassing.

I don't often vent here, but the recent Humvee-related casualties sparked me to finally share this here. It is such a testament to our fighting soldiers that they bravely get in these vehicles every day and go on patrol. It is a testament to their skill that they started with what they had, and have done an incredible job bringing Iraq to the point where in December they'll be voting on a permanent free government.

I know decisions aren't made out of a conscious desire to harm people, but when lives are on the line, we should make every effort to ensure that those who do put their lives on the line are not getting the short end of the deal.

There are other areas where we need to focus concern, such as in taking care of those families who have lost loved ones, or where loved ones have been wounded. There are many sites that provide information on how we can contribute. Soldiers' Angels is a good resource. The Patriette has links to a number of support organizations.

You and I may not be capable of building an armored vehicle, but we can urge our government to make sure we have adequate vehicles. And you and I can give of our time and money to military families in need. We are all in this together.