SCHAKOWSKY: BUSH ADMINISTRATION MISSTATEMENT OF THE DAY NEEDED EQUIPMENT FOR U.S. SOLDIERS IN IRAQ

MAY 14, 2004

SCHAKOWSKY: BUSH ADMINISTRATION MISSTATEMENT OF THE DAY -
NEEDED EQUIPMENT FOR
U.S. SOLDIERS IN IRAQ

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) issued "The Bush Administration Misstatement of the Day" on providing needed equipment for U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

In a clear example of failed pre-war planning, President Bush ordered U.S. troops into battle without enough armored Humvees. The Administration is now attempting to deliver those vehicles to Iraq; however, Undersecretary of Defense Michael W. Wynne said that "The real constraint [on getting armored Humvees to troops] is production capacity." (April 21, 2004)

According to an article, however, published in the Indianapolis Star on May 7, 2004:

"While U.S. troops facing ambush in Iraq for months demanded more armored Humvees, top Army officials insisted they were ordering as many of the trucks as could be made in Indiana and armored in Ohio. They turned out to be wrong. Last fall, Army officials insisted that 80 armored Humvees could be produced a month, then raised that estimate to 220. In reality, AM General Corp. of South Bend and Armor Holdings of Fairfield, Ohio, are capable of turning out hundreds more a month, according to company officials."