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| Iraq-Jordan |
| More US armour headed for Iraq |
| 2004-04-27 |
| THE US military may send more heavy armour to Iraq, the top US general has said, amid concerns that even new armoured Humvees do not offer enough protection as attacks on coalition troops intensify. General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said commanders have indicated they were going to ask for heavier equipment although he had not yet seen a formal request. âSome of these units, you know, left a lot of their heavy equipment back because the task was not suited to M-1s and Bradleys as much as it is to other means of conveyance and other ways of doing the job,â he said. âSo some of them may have changed,â he said. âAs the situation changes, theyâll adapt to them.â The 1st Cavalry Division, which took over responsibility for Baghdad earlier this month, deployed to Iraq without most of its heavy armour because the mission appeared at the time to call for more mobile, light infantry forces. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, now fighting in the insurgent-held city of Fallujah, deployed with only about 16 tanks, a marine spokesman said. It has enough light armoured reconnaissance vehicles to equip a battalion, and a smaller number of amphibious tracked vehicles. Both units found themselves thrust into some of the bloodiest fighting in nearly a year soon after arriving in Iraq. Myers said amounts of heavy equipment being sought were modest and did not represent âa major change in philosophyâ on the kind of forces needed to fight the war. General John Abizaid, the commander of US forces in Iraq, had asked for a lighter force tailored to the kind of simmering low intensity conflict that had characterized the conflict after Baghdad fell to US troops last year. But the eruption of fighting in Fallujah, followed by a wave of uprisings by Shiites in Baghdad and several southern cities this month, has raised concerns about the vulnerability of US forces facing escalating urban combat. Newsweek reported this week that an unofficial study by a defense consultant found that of a total of 789 coalition deaths as of April 15, 142 were killed by land mines or improvised explosive devices, while 48 others died in rocket-propelled-grenade attacks. General Larry Ellis, head of the armyâs Forces Command, warned in a March 30 memo that armoured Humvees have not proven to be the solution that the Army had hoped to achieve. He urged that funding be found immediately to double production of light armoured vehicles Stryker vehicles. But Myers said the protection offered by the Stryker vehicles is about the same as an armoured Humvee. Even tanks have been blown over by roadside bombs made with artillery rounds, he said. âNone of these systems provide 100 percent protection. Thatâs the fact,â he said. He said the military has made a big effort to replace thin-skinned Humvees with armoured Humvees. There are now a little over 2000 of the armoured Humvees in Iraq, about half the number required, and production has been ramped up to the limit of the manufacturerâs capability, he said. But Myers admitted, âThe requirement continues to go up as the nature of this fight changes, as we adapt to the enemy tactics.â âAnd what people forget sometimes, that weâre actually at war here. And we have adversaries that think, and they adapt to our tactics,â he said. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 Barbara - The English and Americans are two peoples separated by a common language. :) |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-04-27 8:21:53 PM |
| #2 If sent heavy armor over there it probably mean Iran and Syria can start sh*tting themselves. |
| Posted by: djohn66 2004-04-27 7:35:12 PM |
| #1 I knew this wasn't from an American paper as soon as I saw the title. It's "armor" over here. British spelling is so cute. :-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-04-27 6:59:20 PM |