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Well, it's official: Don Rumsfeld has been declared the fall guy for the Bush Administration's prosecution of the War in Iraq. What was that, you ask? "Who made the declaration?" Why, it was those unlikely bedfellows, William Kristol, the New York Times, and Norman Schwarzkopf (Gen., US Army, ret.). Apparently, everything that has gone wrong in Iraq, has been President Rumsfeld's fault: He sent insufficient numbers of men to fight the war, he was responsible for the torture at Abu Ghraib, and worst of all, he was insufficiently deferential to the G.I. who asked him at a December 8...

We’ll regret it if Rumsfeld goes. The Washington Post recently warned that doctors are urging interested parties of all types to get their flu shots before the "scarce" vaccine is thrown out. But how is such a surfeit possible when our national media scared us to death just a few months ago with the specter of a national flu epidemic, corporate malfeasance, and Bush laxity? That perfect storm of incompetence and skullduggery purportedly combined to leave us vulnerable to mass viral attack. So how can the Post now characterize something as "scarce" that is soon to be discarded for a...

The truth trickles out. "It now appears that the premise of the question that caused an uproar around Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was, so to speak, off base," FNC's Brit Hume noted Tuesday night in reminding viewers how two weeks ago National Guardsman "Thomas Wilson said to Rumsfeld, quote, 'our vehicles are not armored, we do not have proper armament vehicles to carry with us north,' into Iraq." But, Hume relayed, "according to senior Army officers, about 800 of the 830 vehicles in Wilson's Army regiment, the 278th Calvary, had already been up-armored" at the time of his widely...

If the left is to have any hope of undermining President Bush’s second term, it must continue its previous efforts to destroy the reputation of every worthwhile conservative in his cabinet. And no one is more likely to remain a target than Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. As the nation prepared for war in the immediate aftermath of 9-11, Rumsfeld’s candor and resolve, expressed daily during his press briefings, made him immensely popular among the American people. Among reporters, he was grudgingly tolerated along with the rampant flag-waving and other expressions of an America that was rising to meet its enemies...

It now appears that the premise of the question that caused an uproar around Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was off base. In Kuwait two weeks ago, Army Specialist Thomas Wilson (search) told Rumsfeld, "our vehicles are not armored ... We do not have proper armament vehicles to carry with us north [into Iraq]." But, according to senior Army officers, about 800 of the 830 vehicles in Wilson's army regiment — the 278th Cavalry — had already been up-armored when he asked the question. What's more, 20 vehicles remaining to be modified were in the process of being up-armored — and...

U.S. Department of DefenseOffice of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)News Transcript On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20041215-1801.htmlMedia contact: +1 (703) 697-5131 Public contact:http://www.dod.mil/faq/comment.html or +1 (703) 428-0711 Presenter: : Major General Stephen Speakes, U.S. Army G-8, Force Development; Brigadier General (P) Jeffrey Sorenson, Deputy for Acquisition Systems Management to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology; Colonel John Rooney, Chief of Staff, Army Test and Development Command Wednesday, December 15, 2004 8:03 a.m. EST Special Defense Department Briefing on Uparmoring HMMWV             STAFF (COL Joe Curtin, OCPA):  Good morning, everybody.  Thank you for turning out...

Last year, Midge Decter, wife of Norman Podhoretz, who has been howling for "World War IV" against the Arabs, published a mash note titled, "Rumsfeld: A Personal Portrait." The University of Houston's James D. Fairbanks began his review thus: "Neoconservative writer Midge Decter sets out to explain just what it is about Donald Rumsfeld that has well-educated, sophisticated women swooning over him. Those unaware that Rumsfeld mania has been sweeping the country have obviously not attended the same fashionable dinner parties as Decter. Her book begins with a description of one such party where women sat around gushing over the...

...Even during ongoing military campaigns, Mr. Rumsfeld never wavered from his transformational objectives.... Mr. Rumsfeld, with the brilliant leadership of General Schoomaker, was able to move personnel from noncombat to combat units, enabling them with additional reorganization to create 15 newly restructured combat brigades. Also, because of Mr. Rumsfeld's successful plan, our military is more flexible, more agile and better able to fight unconventional enemies. A new civilian personnel system was designed to reward merit, reduce force stress and replace a bureaucratic culture of risk aversion with one of innovation. Moreover, he was able to move military personnel out of...

"The reporter who managed to get a National Guardsman serving in Iraq to question Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld about why his unit's vehicles lacked sufficient armor coached the soldier using false information," NewsMax.com reports. "In fact, by the time Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Edward Lee Pitts rehearsed Spc. Thomas 'Jerry' Wilson on what to say to Rumsfeld, the Pentagon had already up-armored 97 percent of the vehicles in Thomas' 278th Regimental Combat Team, senior members of the Army's combat systems development and acquisition team said Thursday. "Further undermining the premise of Pitts' question, orders to up-armor the...

The long knives have been unsheathed, and Donald Rumsfeld’s back targeted. One of the most capable, energetic, intelligent, determined and articulate public servants in the history of the American Republic is under fire for not being omniscient and infallible, and for using an Auto-Pen to sign letters of condolence to the families of those killed in action. A classic orchestrated PR offensive is underway, bearing all the signs of the customary collaboration among the Usual Suspects in the capital’s media-political universe. Things were getting scary for the opponents of George W. Bush. Not only did he win a smashing electoral...

Hello FreeRepublic Posters, I want to ask a question that I am sure at least a few of you will have the REAL information on , but I have not seen it posted here. It concerns this issue about the families of those who lost thier loved ones while Bravely serving in the Armed Service and defending Our Country receiving letters of condolence form our Governement officials. It is still a sensitive topic in our house due to the lose of my sister's ex-husband, ( my ex-brother-in-law and a good friend ) ,who lost his life a litle over 2...

Rightwingnews.com asks was the un-armored Humvee story a hoax?

Firing Rumsfeld over this flap would only encourage the jihadis During the presidential campaign, John Kerry vacillated between two anthems: Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender" and "I Won't Back Down," by Tom Petty. Bush used "Still the One" until its composer, John Hall, told him to cease and desist. There is no indication the President cared. He's not a music lover. But every administration needs a theme song. Since Kerry no longer needs one, Bush should borrow one of his. "No Surrender," despite its title, is a melancholy tale of youthful determination gone soft. Petty's hard line - You can stand...

Armor installed within 24 hours of soldiers' complaint 2004-12-17 From Wire ReportsSenior Army officials told a wire service reporter Wednesday that within 24 hours of a soldier's complaint to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about shortages of vehicle armor in Iraq, protective armor had been installed on every vehicle in the soldier's unit.According to a Hearst Newspaper report Thursday, Army Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes and Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, senior members of the Army's combat systems development and acquisition team at the Pentagon, said routine pre-deployment preparations before proceeding to Iraq included adding protective armor plates to the last 20...

When an Army reservist in Kuwait gave Donald Rumsfeld an earful Wednesday about inadequate armor for Iraq-bound Humvees, the Defense Secretary responded by paying the soldier the compliment of candor. "You go to war with the army you have. They're not the army you might want or wish to have," he said. That's at least an honest answer, and the Secretary's forthrightness seems to have been appreciated by the troops at the town hall meeting, who gave him a standing ovation. But back in Washington, candor has gotten more than one official in trouble. Faster than you could say "Abu...

"The first point is that you'll recollect that one of the questions was the status of the 278 ACR; in other words, the date that we had the visit by the secretary of Defense, we had a question about their up-armoring status.  When the question was asked, 20 vehicles remained to be up-armored at that point.  We completed those 20 vehicles in the next day.  And so over 800 vehicles from the 278 ACR were up-armored, and they are a part now of their total force that is operating up in Iraq."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., gave embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld a vote of confidence on Sunday, contradicting an earlier report quoting him as saying he'd "had it" with the defense chief. "I assure you that in the three-plus years that I have worked with Secretary Rumsfeld, we've had our differences," Sen. Warner told NBC's "Meet the Press." "But I have confidence in my ability and his ability to continue to work together as a team for the common goals of the men and women of the Armed Forces and to support the goals of the commander...

Among the many distinctive expressions Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has offered as gifts to the media is the following: “I don’t do quagmires,” referring to the mantra-like repetition by some war critics that Iraq has become a quagmire. The media, however, especially its Official Rumsfeld-Hating Clique, remains mired in the viciously viscous putrid muck of all-consuming loathing of the Secretary of Defense. That same media currently has its puerile knickers in a twist about President Bush awarding Tommy Franks, Paul Bremer and George Tenet the Medal of Freedom. Or, as liberal columnist Richard Cohen, speaking for many media colleagues,...

The word from a soldier just back from IraqI have been in the Army for the last seven years. I have gone through the good and bad times in the military. It is a lifestyle that if you do not live every day, you cannot even come close to understanding. I have been to Bosnia, Kosovo, and have just returned from Iraq. I can tell you that no one feels the loss of soldiers more than we do. Even the families do not deal with the emotional pain and stress that we do when we have to pick up the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House gave a new vote of confidence on Friday to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld amid growing criticism of him from members of President Bush (news - web sites)'s own Republican Party. "Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a great job leading our efforts at the Department of Defense (news - web sites) to win the war on terrorism and to help bring about a free and peaceful Iraq (news - web sites), and the president is focused on working closely with him on those matters," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Rumsfeld has faced heavy criticism for not...

It may not have been conscious sabotage of the defense secretary, but it's hard to believe otherwise. Nowhere was the media's irresponsibility on the Iraq conflict more acutely demonstrated than in the barrage of ugly news reports on Donald Rumsfeld's exchange in Kuwait with Spc. Thomas Wilson, an exchange that is still reverberating across the country. Those who pay close attention to the news are almost certainly familiar with the reported encounter. Spc. Wilson, an airplane mechanic with the Tennessee Army National Guard, asked the secretary an important question: ". . . A lot of us are getting ready to...

A new Gallup survey is rather disquieting for those of us in the media. It finds that not even a quarter of Americans perceive either television or newspaper reporters to have "very high" or "high" standards of ethics and honesty. There are various explanations for that perception in the eyes of the public. But the belief here is that one major contributing factor is the public's perception that some of what they read on the front pages of the major dailies or watch on the evening news is politically slanted. Indeed, the public need look no further than coverage of...

BILOXI - U.S. Sen. Trent Lott doesn't believe Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resign immediately, but he does think Rumsfeld should be replaced sometime in the next year. "I'm not a fan of Secretary Rumsfeld," Lott, R-Mississippi, told the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning. "I don't think he listens enough to his uniformed officers." Rumsfeld has been criticized since a soldier asked him last week why the combat vehicles used in the war in Iraq don't have the proper armor. Both Rumsfeld and President Bush have said more vehicle armor will be shipped to Iraq. Lott said the...

Wheeled vehicle ballistic armor protection (sec. 112) The committee recommends a provision that would add $610.0 million in Other Procurement, Army (OPA), for the procurement of up-armored high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWV) in sufficient quantities to acquire such vehicles up to a rate of 450 vehicles per month and for the procurement of add-on ballisticarmor protection for medium and heavy wheeled vehicles. The $610.0 million would be in addition to the $315.0 million increase in OPA for up-armored HMMWVs (UAH) the committee recommended elsewhere in this report. The provision will provide the Secretary of the Army with the flexibility...

On December 16, 1944, General Bradley came to my headquarters to discuss ways and means of overcoming our acute shortages in infantry replacements. Just as he entered my office, a staff officer came in to report slight penetrations of our lines in the front of General Middleton's VIII Corps and the right of General Gerow's V Corps in the Ardennes region. . . . - Dwight Eisenhower, "Crusade in Europe" It had started with the dawn: an unexpectedly heavy artillery barrage. How had the retreating Germans managed to mass so many guns? Was this just a local attack, or a...

Colonel Olson knows first hand how important properly equipped vehicles can be when it comes to a soldier's survival. Olson said, "The doors work. They work real well."The doors Olson mentioned are armored doors that are installed on Humvees and other vehicles used by troops. At the Watervliet Arsenal, armor kits for those doors are assembled and shipped overseas. Olson said, "We need to do everything we can for this. We are here. We're working around the clock to make sure we can produce to our max-capacity for the doors." As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator...

AT WAR Question Authority What the media got wrong about Spc. Wilson and Secretary Rumsfeld. BY JOHN R. GUARDIANO Wednesday, December 15, 2004 12:01 a.m. To the media, it was a dramatic revelation of Bush administration hypocrisy and incompetence: A lowly American GI courageously speaks truth to power, thus showing that the emperor has no clothes. But to this Marine veteran of the Iraq war, the hullabaloo over Army Spc. Thomas J. Wilson's question reveals far more about media bias, prejudice and ignorance than it does about the U.S. military and Iraq. Spc. Wilson asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld why,...

Reporters didn't much like Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's answer last week to Army Spc. Thomas Wilson, when he explained that the military's Humvee force wasn't fully armored because "you go to war with the Army you have." Perhaps Rumsfeld's far more candid assessment of U.S. military preparedness - offered more than a year before the invasion of Iraq - would have been more appropriate. In January 2002, he told "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert that the military had deteriorated so badly during the Clinton administration that it might take a decade to rebuild. "It takes time to run...

Young students in journalism school ought to be taught that "by their stories, you shall know them." The media reveal their opinions about the world not only in their endless pontificating verbiage, but in the topics they choose. The "news" becomes whatever floats their boat, whatever they urgently want the people to know.  It's no surprise that one thing the Left wants the people to believe is that the people who took the country to war in Iraq are not only foolishly hawkish, but tactically incompetent. Just because the people heard this ad nauseam and re-elected Team Bush anyway doesn't...

S.2401 Department of Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 SEC. 112. UP-ARMORED HIGH MOBILITY MULTI-PURPOSE WHEELED VEHICLES OR WHEELED VEHICLE BALLISTIC ADD-ON ARMOR PROTECTION. (a) AMOUNT- Of the amount authorized to be appropriated for the Army for fiscal year 2005 for other procurement under section 101(5), $610,000,000 shall be available for both of the purposes described in subsection (b) and may be used for either or both of such purposes. (b) PURPOSES- The purposes referred to in subsection (a) are as follows: (1) The procurement of up-armored high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles at a rate up to 450 such...

The Pentagon yesterday blamed miscommunication for the Army's not capitalizing on a firm's ability to produce more armored Humvee utility vehicles for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The issue goes back to last Wednesday in Kuwait, when Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld heard an Army National Guardsman complain about a lack of armored vehicles. After the well-publicized complaint, Armor Holdings Inc., the sole-source provider of Humvee armor, announced that it could produce an additional 100 armored Humvees monthly, if only the Army had asked. The soldier's question and Armor Holdings' statement helped fuel a rash of negative press reports about...

NEWS WIRE SERVICES Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf said yesterday he was "angry" at Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's response to a soldier who complained he and his fellow grunts in Iraq lack sufficient armor plating. And Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a Vietnam War hero, reiterated that he has "no confidence" in the Pentagon boss. After a soldier told Rumsfeld that he and his fellow servicemen must scrounge for metal to better fortify their Humvees, the secretary told him, "You go to war with the Army you have." That response didn't sit well with the former general. "They deserve every bit of protection...

THE SHOCK of the US election result has worn off just enough for Britain’s bien pensants to start bleating about George Bush again.The reappointment of Donald Rumsfeld, in particular, has been very hard for Islington, even though — where it matters — the US Defence Secretary’s record is exemplary. Remember how it was when he took office. The Clinton presidency had responded feebly over several years to the carefully graduated attacks on US targets by al-Qaeda. As a result, America’s deterrent posture was sorely weakened. Osama bin Laden and his jihadists concluded that America had lost its nerve; 9/11 was...

McCain attacks Rumsfeld on Iraq The outspoken Republican Senator John McCain has said he has "no confidence" in Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over his handling of the war in Iraq. Mr McCain said there were "strong differences of opinion" between the two men, particularly over troop numbers. But he refused to call for Mr Rumsfeld to resign, saying who was in the team was up to President George Bush. Mr Rumsfeld faced a public grilling from his own troops when he visited a US base in Kuwait last week. The BBC's correspondent at the Pentagon, Nick Childs, says those...

Thursday, Lieutenant General R. Steven Whitcomb,Commander, Third Army "Patton's Own," and Coalition Forces Land Component Command, answered some questions, regarding the armoring of vehicles in Iraq, including humvess. These are some of the facts the three star General shared with the press: "Congress has provided in the neighborhood of about $1.2 billion since last year strictly to armor our vehicles" "Up-armored humvees... is a vehicle that is produced in a factory back in the United States and it essentially gives you protection, both glass and on the armament on the side, front, rear, sides, top and bottom. If you'll think...

INFORMATION WARFARE: Mom, Apple Pie and Truck Armor December 10, 2004: The American Secretary of Defense was holding one of his frequent “town hall” meetings with troops this week. A soldier in the audience, at the urging of an imbedded reporter, asked why there wasn’t more armor and bulletproof glass for trucks. Rumsfeld said, in effect, that the stuff is being produced as fast as possible. The subject of unarmored trucks in Iraq is an old one, as is the massive effort the army has made to armor its vehicles and protect the troops from ambush and roadside bombs. But...

SEC. RUMSFELD: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. My goodness. What a group this is. Impressive gathering. General Steve Whitcomb, thank you so much for your kind words. Sergeant Major Kellman, it’s good to see you again. I appreciate your able leadership as well. First, I want to say thank you to each of you, to your families for your superb service to our country. You are doing noble work, it’s vitally important work and your country is deeply grateful. Today’s December 8th. Sixty three years ago today our nation declared war on an enemy that had launched...

See the following articles: http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_10.html http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/203200_armor10.html http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m998.htm From those articles and webpages, here's some facts: 19,400 Humvees in Iraq 5,900 were shipped from factory with armor 9,000 upgraded with kits in theater TODAY 77% of Humvees in Iraq are armored Unarmored Humvees aren't supposeed to go off base. Unarmored Humvees travel between bases on a flatbed truck. Of 9,386 armor kits shipped to Iraq, 9,143 have been installed. That's 97% installed, only 3% to go. There are at least 16 varients of the Humvee: M998 cargo/troop carrier without winch M1038 cargo/troop carrier with winch M966 TOW missile carrier, basic armor,...

LODI -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld apparently doesn't know they turn the lights off each night at Lodi's R.E. Services. Rumsfeld recently told disgruntled National Guard troops in Kuwait the reason there isn't more armor on military vehicles in Iraq is because it can't be made fast enough. "There's no capacity is what Rumsfeld said," said Mark Frater, chief executive officer at R.E. Services, which began making lightweight armor for military vehicles earlier this year. "I'm just running one shift. I've got capacity. I could run around the clock if they gave me the orders." Frater's company makes laminated plates...

Shortly after the U.S. deposed Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003, the Army kicked off its annual "war game," a mock battle in which U.S. forces set out to topple another Middle Eastern regime. Set 10 years in the future, the game featured a force built around a light, fast, armored vehicle that the Army planned to start producing in 2010. The Army attacked from seven dizzying directions and, when the game ended, appeared on the verge of shattering the enemy force. "We walked out and patted ourselves on the back and said 'marvelous job,' " says retired Lt. Gen....

An Army contractor says it has agreed to step up production of the Iraq-bound Humvees by 100 a month starting early next year. WASHINGTON — The Army moved Friday to boost production of armored Humvees for American troops in Iraq by 100 a month, despite recent assertions by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that soldiers could not be supplied with safer vehicles because Pentagon officials could not procure them any faster. The steps to increase production came two days after Rumsfeld bluntly told troops being sent to combat that assembly lines installing armor on the vehicles were already operating at...

Call-In Military Armored Vehicles C-SPAN, Washington Journal Washington, District of Columbia (United States) ID: 184763 - 2 - 12/11/2004 - 0:45 - No Sale Goure, Daniel, Vice President, Lexington Institute The guest talks about the status of U.S. armored military vehicles in Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. Army supply unit whose members refused a dangerous fuel delivery mission last month has now fitted its vehicles with armor to protect against attack, the military said Saturday. Eighteen soldiers from the 343rd Quartermaster Company, a Reserve unit based in Rock Hill, S.C., refused to drive a fuel convoy last month from Tallil air base near Nasiriyah to Taji north of Baghdad, insisting their vehicles were not properly outfitted and the fuel was contaminated. The mission later was carried out by other troops in the unit, which has at least 120 soldiers, the military said....

Rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) are the typical weapons of choice when insurgents decide to attack trucks and armored vehicles. RPGs are cheap, simple to operate, and if used properly can inflict significant damage on Stryker and Bradley armored vehicles. Unarmed and armored Hummers are especially vulnerable, since the various armor kits for the Hummer are designed to protect occupants from small arms and machine gun fire, not anti-tank grenades. One quick fix to protect the Hummer is a unique airbag system developed by a small California company that deploys a "curtain" down outside the side of the vehicle being attacked....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq — This is a graveyard for Humvees, the final resting place for the hulking vehicles felled by insurgents' roadside bombs. In a parking lot, the U.S. military's most common personnel carriers lie flattened with noses down in the mud. Their metal carcasses are barely recognizable. Tires have been splayed to the sides or blown away entirely. Shrapnel has burst holes in unprotected parts of the vehicles, as if they were tinfoil. The nine mangled Humvees here have been destroyed by what the military calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. "Now this one here, you can...

The New York Times last Monday beat 60 Minutes to the "missing" explosives story, so CBS couldn't air that last-minute hit on President Bush 36 hours before the election. On Sunday it replaced that planned story with another, "In Harm's Way," about problems in Iraq: Deaths and injuries caused to servicemen by the lack of armor on Humvees, as well as issues such as the lack of radios for troops. The story was not explicitly pegged to deriding Bush's conduct of the war, but Steve Kroft blamed the lack of armor on how "Pentagon war planners didn't anticipate a long,...

When an Army reservist in Kuwait gave Donald Rumsfeld an earful Wednesday about inadequate armor for Iraq-bound Humvees, the Defense Secretary responded by paying the soldier the compliment of candor. "You go to war with the army you have. They're not the army you might want or wish to have," he said. That's at least an honest answer, and the Secretary's forthrightness seems to have been appreciated by the troops at the town hall meeting, who gave him a standing ovation. Figuring it was politically safe to slipstream behind a soldier's question, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd called Mr. Rumsfeld's comments...

"Raw sewage fill the streets, rising above the HUBCAPS of our HUMVEES". John Kerry states in his speech billed as a major foreign affairs outline. This is a candidate that started his campaign by stating he was "reporting for duty". Yet a check of The Army Humvee site indicates that military humvees do not have hubcaps. Will return to this subject. Then Mr Kerry took himself down memory lane yet again. "It is never easy to discuss what has gone wrong, while our troops are in constant danger.........I know this dilema 1st hand.....after serving in A WAR. I returned home...

U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andy Miller Soldiers of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment conduct pre-combat checks on their new Humvees at Camp Striker near Baghdad International Airport on Thursday. The 1st Cavalry Division has provided the 82nd Airborne Division armored Humvees for operations in Iraq, division officials at Fort Bragg said Friday. ''We requested additional armored vehicles to ensure our paratroopers had the best equipment,'' said Maj. Amy Hannah, a division spokeswoman at Fort Bragg. The 82nd received more than 60 M-1114 "up-armored" vehicles in Iraq, Hannah said. Many soldiers in Iraq say the greatest threat they face...

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (AP) -- A newspaper should have told its readers promptly that an embedded reporter had helped frame a question that a serviceman asked of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld this week in Kuwait, the publisher says. The question to Rumsfeld from Spc. Thomas "Jerry" Wilson, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee complaining that many military vehicles in Iraq are not adequately armored, has touched off a storm of new publicity about the issue. "In hindsight, information on how the question was framed should have been included in Thursday's story in the Times Free Press. It was not," the paper's publisher and...