Lawmakers criticize Marine Corps for Humvee armor delay
Pullout from Iraq could begin in '06, a commander says
WASHINGTON -- Republicans and Democrats yesterday chided Marine Corps leaders about continuing equipment shortages, contending that vehicles in Iraq have not been outfitted with enhanced blast protection even though the additional armor has been sitting in a warehouse in Kuwait for two months.
Duncan Hunter, a California Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that while Marines on the front lines are performing valiantly against a committed enemy, their bosses in Washington are not providing troops with the tools they need.
''With lives on the line every day, there is no reason for less than a daily, all-out effort here at home to provide the force protection required for our men and women in Iraq," Hunter told two high-ranking Marine generals.
''It's a terrible disappointment that the Pentagon still can't manage its supply chain," Representative Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat and senior member of the panel, told the Globe. ''Too many soldiers have died in Iraq because they didn't have the armor they needed."
The top American field commander, meanwhile, told reporters from Baghdad that some US troops could be withdrawn from Iraq beginning next year.
''I suspect we will probably draw down capability after the elections [in December], because Iraqi security forces are more capable," Lieutenant General John R. Vines said in a teleconference with Pentagon reporters.
But for the near future, he said, he did not expect any significant changes in the number of insurgent attacks.
A roadside bombing near the town of Rutbah yesterday killed a US Army soldier, while Iraqi police and insurgents fought a 20-minute gun battle in Baghdad's Aamil neighborhood after 15 insurgents in three cars opened fire at a police station.
After meeting for the first time with Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, the new US ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said in Baghdad that he was horrified by the suffering of the Iraqi people, who have taken the brunt of insurgent attacks in recent weeks.
He pledged to help the Iraqis ''break the back" of the insurgency.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers renewed their pressure on Pentagon brass to more quickly provide troops with the best equipment available.
Hunter singled out hundreds of Humvees with unprotected undercarriages that are more vulnerable to roadside bombs.
The Marine Corps approved the fixes Monday and said the work will be completed within eight weeks. The armor plating has been stored in Kuwait since April.
The Marine Corps insisted it is doing all it can.
''We will continue to make every effort to maximize whatever assets are in theater for all our operating forces," General William L. Nyland, assistant Marine Corps commandant, and Major General William D. Catto, head of the Marine Corps Systems Command, said in a joint statement to the committee.
Catto attributed the armor delay to a ''lack of leadership," but assured the committee that all Marine vehicles used in Iraq would be properly protected by the end of the year.
Nevertheless, others said more needs to be done now. In a letter sent yesterday, Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, asked Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld to provide more details on how the shortages are being addressed.
''Over the last two years, Congress has provided more than $200 billion in supplemental appropriations for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- that in addition to the more the $400 billion we spend each year on defense," Kerry wrote. ''It is unbelievable, and quite frankly unacceptable, that American personnel face shortages of anything at this point."
Marine Corps spokesman Major Douglas Powell said the problems are affecting the entire Marine Corps, not just the 30,000 deployed to Iraq.
''We just don't have enough equipment to provide troops with what we need," he said. But Powell stressed that the Marines in Iraq have been provided more equipment from other units so they can meet their mission.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com. 
