Pentagon works to send more armor

WASHINGTON — Iraqi insurgents are growing more effective, and it will take time to get U.S. troops the $4 billion in armor they need for protection, defense officials said Wednesday. "This is not Wal-Mart," one general said.

Officials rejected growing criticism that armor shortages in Iraq reflect poor war planning, and they said they've been working as fast as possible to give troops what they need.

At a Pentagon news conference, Army officials declined to say how much has already been spent armoring vehicles for the campaign. But they said that by the end of the next six to eight months, they will have spent $4.1 billion to try to make sure vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan have full armor — either manufactured that way or with armor added.

They said they expect 98 percent of Army Humvees in the theater to have proper armor by March and the rest of the fleet, such as fuel trucks, by summer.

"This is not Wal-Mart. . . . This is a very detailed process in terms of trying to get this capability," said Brig. Gen. Jeffery Sorenson, adding that it takes time to study, develop, test and produce equipment needed against what commanders say is a sophisticated and ever-adapting enemy.

Asked at a separate news conference on Iraq operations whether he was concerned about still-lacking protection, Lt. Gen. Lance Smith said officials are concerned that insurgents have changed their tactics — attacking troops in the rear area after realizing they could not win in direct combat.

"Yes, we're concerned that he has changed his tactics, and it's required us to armor vehicles that we might otherwise not armor," he said of attacks on logistics convoys.

"I don't know that we'll ever find a silver bullet" against the insurgents' homemade bombs, said Smith, deputy commander of Central Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East.

He said insurgents may use doorbell mechanisms today and remote controls from toys tomorrow to detonate the bombs that have become the major source of U.S. casualties in Iraq.

"As we adapt, they adapt," he said.

Smith and Sorenson spoke to Pentagon reporters in two separate press conferences Wednesday, a week after a soldier's question to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ignited a firestorm over why troops lack proper armor 21 months into the Iraq campaign.