Why did Bush send troops to Iraq without armour plating on their hummers?

You are assuming he cares about the troops. His actions speak to that. As far aws his supporters go jchanman... how in heck could the democrats block anytrhing when the republicans controlled all three branches of government for 6 years!!! How about engaging your brain.

If Bush cared about our troops, why did he veto the bill that gives them a 3.5 % pay raise and enacts standards fo care to Veterans?

If Bush cares about our troops why did he replace Gen Weightman at Walter Reed with Kiley? Kiley is the Guy that caused all the problems, Weightman was the guy trying to fix the problems. In Bushes Neo Con mind, Weigthman was the problem. Kiley then stayed as his replacement until the public outcry was too loud!!!

first off the armored hummers were not in the system at the time. It wasn't until the need was discovered by the type of war being fought. then it takes some time to design, test and produce something new. new equipment if requested by the pentagon and the spending of money requires action by congress.

the President does not make the decision, at least in the start. I think you will find the President is way down on the list of who to blame

Because hummers were never designed to be armor plated and to do it causes many problems because of time required, IED's were not a problem to start, and they actually cause some problems with reduced speed, maneuvering and space after the armor is on. The simple fact is the hummer was not designed as a combat vehicle but as a support vehicle like the Jeep in WW2-Vietnam era.

You neocons supporting the administration's shameful lack of support for our troops should hang your heads in shame. You'd rather the president not lose face than admit he screwed the ppoch by sending an inadequate force with substandard equipment into a war that was un-needed.

Jchanman...you are disgusting lying like that. How dare you accuse the democrats of not funding things. The republicans controlled everything until last January. If you cannot win the debate with logic you resort to lies. Would talk that way in front of your mother? Why don't you understand American Values!!!

Hey all you neo con supporters....Bush blew it....btw mike. It was Bush I that sent the troops into Somalia with inadequate equipment and no clear mission objective. Clinton inherited the position....He acknowledged that he made a mistake leaving them there and pulled them out shortly after that debacle.

An interesting fact a lot of people missed in the Blackhawk down incident is the War Lord the American were after was in fact one of the Al Quaida big wigs involved in giving Bin Laden places to train in Sudan.

They were already armored! We caught him sneaking some armor off before we rolled out of Bragg. Red handed, the president himself! Gyaaa

Do you think he even knew what the armor thickness of the 3 different types of hummers at the time? No, he just knew they worked during the Clinton administration. When it the problem was noted by the chain of command was it fixed? YES.....Too bad the problem was never fixed then you guys could gripe all day, but since it was fixed right away (unlike Somalia) all you can say was: He "personally" sent us off to war without armor. So he could get ridiculed the rest of his days in the office? No, he DID NOT KNOW.

The news almost had me believing I showed up in Iraq with just my underwear, but then I checked and noticed my $8k-$10k worth of personal issued gear was still there...PFFFF

Footnote: Earlier and weaker models of the same Hummers fought Desert Storm just fine. The enemy just adopted new tactics, so we adopted new armor.

why were the troops sent into Normandy on DDay with out all the right equipment? you could ask this same question about any and all wars and conflicts after the fact. if they knew it was going to be needed to the degree it is now it would have been done. but hummers weren't meant to be Armoured vehicles to start with.

They were supposed to be received by Iraqi people with Bouquets of rose

We didn't realize how important the plating would be, and after we DID realize it, it was more important that the money be spent on well connected private contractors. How much do the CEOs of CACI, Custer Battles, SAIC, and other war profiteers make?

Someone explained to me that it was cheaper for us to hire private armies. I can see that. We pay mercenaries 3 to 10 times what we pay our own troops. (Blackwater security personnel make over $1200/DAY and enjoy immunity from prosecution for any crimes committed in Iraq). A general, in command of a hundred thousand troops, makes somewhere around $100,000 a year. Compare that to the CEO of Blackwater Security, who pulled down several million just in bonuses alone.

Image the power required to order a billion dollars in shrink wrapped pallets of cash to be flown into the middle of the desert, with zero accountability.

Check out the corpwatch link below. There's no real money in armor plating. It's just an iron alloy. How could a United Technologies CEO justify $50,000,000 just for that?

I find your responses from some of the former military personnel interesting. Why were our boys in Iraq foraging through junk yards for material that could be welded on to their personnel carriers? Let's face it--US soldiers come pretty cheap. Not quite as cheap as the religiously motivated ideology that turns a human being into a missile guidance system (like a 9/11 terrorist or some other suicide bomber), but a little jingoistic patriotism goes a really long way. We were a great nation once--a somewhat egalitarian nation, founded on a notion of equality.

Now we've just come to the mistaken "realization" that some were created more equal than others.

Might cut into some of H K & R profits. There's only so many billions in US taxpayer's money to go around.