As losses mount, US military unveils new high-tech gadgets

[Barrett808]

New armor plates and steel bars designed to fortify Humvee vehicles against rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire are already being shipped by the Pentagon to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Scientists are burning the midnight oil developing new super-sensitive cameras capable of detecting roadside bombs that have been the scourge of US troops in Iraq from helicopters or unmanned drones.

With public concern about US war casualties on the rise, the US Defense Department rattled off Wednesday a list of high-technology projects designed to minimize risks to its soldiers while making operations more effective.

A total of 550 US troops have been killed since the beginning of the US-led invasion of Iraq a year ago while another 3,150 have been wounded, many by so-called "improvised explosive devices" that resistance fighters conceal by the side of the road and often detonate by remote control, according to defense officials.

A total of 550 US troops have been killed since the beginning of the US-led invasion of Iraq a year ago while another 3,150 have been wounded, many by so-called "improvised explosive devices" that resistance fighters conceal by the side of the road and often detonate by remote control, according to defense officials.

(more)

http://www.spacedaily.com/2004/040304062423.st42qefb.html

[bemildred]

1. More money down a rathole.

You want the troops safe, bring them home.

[SoDesuKa]

2. Reliance on Technology

Reliance on technology didn't win the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong weren't impressed enough to surrender without a fight, and they gave us one!

[Mari333]

3. Thats only because we have been calling relentlessly every day

and screaming about the Humvees,,,which should have been taken care of a long time ago..in the meantime, BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE FOR THE DEAD AND WOUNDED YOU ASSHOLES IN THE WHITE HOUSE
My phone bill was 500 dollars this month and I dont care...every penny I spend calling congressmen and reps is worth it our kids are protected and are brought home. fuck it! bring them home

bring the troops home now
550 is too many
1 was too many!!
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[Crachet2004]

4. Yeah right.

I saw the congressman whose district those new humvee doors are made in on c-span a couple of weeks ago...the factory told him it would take TWO YEARS to replace the doors on the vehicles in Iraq, alone! Why? There is only ONE PLANT that makes the steel for the doors, in the whole country! He couldn't believe it, and neither could I!

If we ever get in a war with someone who can fight back, our production could never keep up. And thank the GOP for that too!

Now on the steel bar thing, this is America, and we make a lot of those for our prisons anyway...so we can probably keep up on them!

The camera idea is laughable. The minute they leave one alone, an Iraqi kid will come by and bust it with a rock. Waste of time, waste of money...the GOP is good at that!

[CaptainClark23]

5. We still make steel?

I think alot of the steel for prison bars and the like comes pre-formed from India or China.

It works like this - we ship them the physical evidence of the greatest attack ever on American soil before the evidence can be examined (oh yes, we DID keep what, 70 pieces or so for the NIST to play with - and these were yanked from Fresh Kills, not the crime scene)

But I digress...so then China and India ship it all back to us as prison bars.

eh, WAY off thread here...I hope those boys and girls over there keep their heads way down, and chinstraps tight.

[DulceDecorum]

6. Yup

and out-source jobs in exchange for bull sh*t.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_789264.html?menu=

[plcdude]

7. is there a site

that records the month by month deaths and wounded?

[Barrett808]

8. Day-by-day death rate: Lunaville

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

Cumulative Graph:
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/USfatalities.html

[KenLayedOff]

9. The best high-tech gadget would be a pair of boots to scoot us out

Bring them all home now!