Again, the media gets it wrong.
The troops now have the NEW body armor.
They've always had body armor. Just of a different variety. A variety, had they not had it EIGHT YEARS ago in Bosnia and then in Kosovo, I'm sure the media would have raised a stink. (Hint: they didn't ALL have it.)
You are absolutely RIGHT that troops all had body armor, just not the NEW stuff. My fiance was high up in logistics with CentCom and I specifically quizzed him on this issue when Kerry began to use it as a political football. He assured me that it was the media's refusal to try and comprehend the difference between old and new versions. He said the old timers like him don't even WANT the new stuff...they're more comfortable with the old.
Am so tired of seeing this myth perpetuated. Left using same tactics they used 35 years ago, and we shouldn't be allowing them to get away with it.