60 Minutes is suggesting that armored HumVees could be safer from IEDs and that the President is responsible for the death of Troops because Congress failed to authorize armor for their vehicles. The problem with acronyms is that they leave the "truth" of the acronym up to the media to interpret. I am will to bet that most people have no concept of what, exactly, and "IED" is. To most, I'd assume, they are deadly little "boxes", that we should be able to find with ease. In reality, most IEDs are constructed of unexploded ordinance - e.g. 155mm Artillery shells, 105mm howitzer shells, bombs, etc. A Hummer is an excellent vehicle - but not in the role it's being used. True to form, the military (mostly Marines and Army in this case) have superb vehicles for offering more protection to the troops - The Bradley comes to mind. Except that we won't use Bradleys - because they'd tear up the roads. Also, it is difficult to use a Brady in built-up areas (read cities, towns, etc.). The net impact of all of this is that we are using vehicles that are ill-equipped for the role. Troops will die, and that is NOT a good thing. But, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airman and Marines will get the mission done - in spite of all the garbage that the Dims and the media screams about.
I am no expert on Military vehicles. Urban warfare is not something that the very latest armored Military vehicles were designed for.
The very newest tanks have so much technical devices inside that it is difficult to get a four man crew fully inside. This is why I believe that the very latest tanks were not used in Iraq. Having a Troop in a tank within city areas and a target for snipers is simply ill advised. The older models were utilized for this reason.
It is probable that newer planners will consider urban warfare as a more likely battlefield than previous designers considered.
IEDs can be of any size and if camouflaged adequately can be difficult to discern, especially from within the confines of an armored vehicle.
Our Troops are not properly armed for urban warfare. It would make more sense to simply level the target cities and rebuild the slums later if neccesary. The life of even one of our Troops is worth whatever it costs. I do not care about the insurgents or their supporters one iota when it comes to the life of even one of our heroes.