Armor

When the country asks young men and women to serve, the implicit quid pro quo is that the country will do everything reasonably possible (1) to protect lives, and (2) to allow the troops to complete the mission successfully. Unfortunately, the country has not always lived up to its end of the bargain in Iraq. Here is the latest, sickening evidence.

A secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.

80 percent!