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Jewish World Review August 25, 2005 / 20 Av, 5765 Unspinning the NY Times' military mendacity By Jack Kelly
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Colonel Thomas Spoehr is annoyed with New York Times reporter Michael Moss,
for what I think is a good reason.
Spoehr is the director of materiel for the Army staff. He had a good news
story to tell Moss, which Moss converted into a bad news story.
Here is the story as Spoehr tells it:
Last year, senior leaders of the Army became aware of technological
developments which make it possible to improve the "Interceptor" body armor
worn by our troops.`
The "Interceptor" consists of a vest, two SAPI (small arms protective
insert) plates worn in the front and the back, and "backing" material around
the plates. The plates are made of boronic carbide, the second hardest
substance known to man (only diamonds are harder) but fairly light weight.
The plates will shatter a standard rifle bullet, and the backing catches the
bullet fragments to prevent injuries from shrapnel.
The "Interceptor" is the best body armor manufactured in the world today,
and represents a remarkable improvement over the protective vests worn by
our troops in the first Gulf War, and Somalia in 1993. Those vests could
protect against shrapnel, but a rifle bullet would cut right through them.
Those vests weighed 24 lbs each. The interceptor ensemble — which can stop
an AK-47 bullet fired from just 10 feet away — weighs just 16 lbs.
But the best isn't perfect. There are some special types of ammunition that
can penetrate the boronic carbide plates. Last year Army leaders became
aware of improvements that could be made to the SAPI plates that would
protect against most (though not all) of these special types of ammunition.
There is little evidence insurgents in Iraq are using the special types of
ammunition that can defeat the "Interceptor." But the Army wanted to be
proactive, to defeat a potential threat before it emerged.
"We're taking what we think is a prudent step to guard against a step (the
insurgents) could take, but that's a step that really hasn't developed yet,"
Spoehr said.
Altering the formula by which the SAPI plates are manufactured is not a
simple process, since these plates must be manufactured to extremely precise
(1,000ths of an inch) dimensions.
"Making one of these plates is like making one of those tiles that protects
the (space) shuttle from heat," Spoehr said.
Yet though the specifications weren't set until early in January, new plates
were being manufactured — and delivery begun to U.S. troops — in March.
Those familiar with the Pentagon's procurement process recognize this as
lightning speed.
The process was speeded up in part because in this instance the Army
departed from the normal Pentagon practice of telling contractors not only
what the Army needed, but how the contractors were to build what the Army
wanted.
This time, Spoehr said, the Army told contractors what the Army needed, and
let the contractors figure out how best to meet the need.
"It's our belief that we put the specifications out there, and then we let
good old American ingenuity go to work," he said. "We have realized
improvements in our own system from innovations contractors have come up
with."
The new plates are a little thicker, but they weigh just two lbs. more than
the ones currently in use. The new SAPI plates cost $1,300 a set, up from
$1,000 for the older set.
"The ceramic plates in vests worn by most personnel cannot withstand certain
munitions the insurgents use. But more than a year after military officials
initiated an effort to replace the armor with thicker, more resistant
plates, tens of thousands of soldiers are still without the stronger
protection because of a string of delays in the Pentagon's procurement
system."
Spoehr told Moss all the things he told me, but there is not a single
positive quote in his story.
"You would get the impression that our soldiers were in harm's way or at
risk," Spoehr said. "That is not true."
Americans are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the war in Iraq,
because all news about Iraq is presented as bad news, even when it isn't.
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© 2005, Jack Kelly |
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