Full Metal Racket

The press appears to be in full-throated shrieking weenie mode over the Iraq armor question.

I had to turn off the news tonight after switching between the opinions of Al Franken and Fred Kaplan on two stations. The ability of people without a clue to give me their opinions on what constitutes military incompetence is astounding.

Yes, we should have more armored vehicles in Iraq. I've been a proponent of armor for a long time. Notwithstanding the revolution in military affairs, passive protection is still critical. Our troops need armor and we should get it to them as quickly as possible.

But the idea that this represents military incompetence in asinine. Truly, I would love to hear about a war that went as planned and did not require changes once in contact with the enemy.

Recall the World War II German army--clearly a first rate mlitary--that went to war with training tanks! With trucks for their "armored infantry" and wagons for supply units. They had to use captured Czech tanks to make up for deficiencies in armor and even when they went into France 8 months after the war started, they still had training tanks in their panzer divisions and armored half tracks were rare indeed.

Deficiencies in war occur from wrong peacetime assumptions and from enemy actions to take advantage of weaknesses they identify.

And truly, the people standing on a stool gripping their skirt hems and shrieking the loudest would never in a million years support a defense budget able to deal with any possible enemy action right from the start. Nor should we. Resources are limited and our military has done a good job. Not perfect by any means but good. Good enough to be awesome on the battlefield that's for sure. And good enough to adapt while fighting.

We are dealing with the problem. People need to get a grip.