Its all about context. What we're hearing from the MSM is the little soundbite that makes Rumsfeld sound like the Armor Nazi, like 'No armor for you, so try not to get blown up in the meantime'. The actual text of the meeting is available at DOD here. Looking at the whole meeting and the whole response to the guy's question puts it all in a new light. Rumsfeld spoke of a basic truth, that an army will never be 100% equipped and prepared to deal with all contingincies all the time. The enemy does try to play to and exploit whatever perceived weakness it can find. If they always did exactly what we expected, it would be simple. No way. These guys are out there to kill us any way they can find. We don't get engraved invitations to their strategy sessions. If we tried to prepare for all contingencies, we'd never get anywhere.
Now, come to find out, most of the Humvees in that guy's unit were armored at the time. Not only that, the guy hadn't even been in the field yet, so he had no need or opportunity to go dumpster diving for scrap metal. Now, I'm not saying Rumsfeld is Mr. Perfect here. He's got a reputation for being abrasive, stubborn, and downright hateful in dealing with his subordinates. I'm sure he's made some missteps along the way, perhaps some that were unavoidable. See my blog concerning the Battle of the Bulge to put that sort of thing in context.
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