President Bush Announces Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended

USS Abraham Lincoln
At Sea Off the Coast of San Diego, California
May 1, 2003

http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rm/20203.htm


Gen. Michael W. Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps:
"Make no mistake, today we are at war", US Capitol, November 18, 2004

On Capitol Hill, Military Warns of Being Under Strain

By Esther Schrader, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Continued fighting in Iraq is straining U.S. forces nearly to the breaking point, even as the Pentagon pumps more than $5.8 billion per month into sustaining its forces there, the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines told Congress on Wednesday.

In testimony to the House Armed Services Committee, the service chiefs said the military would need considerably more money for Iraq over the next year. The chiefs of the Army and Marines in particular stressed the increasing difficulty of recruiting and retaining soldiers, and then equipping them for combat.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/ir...a-iraq-complete

Here is somthing that I truly do not understand: why can't the military purchase body armor for all of its soldiers?

I kept on hearing this during the campaign and it still puzzles me. With all of those billions...is body armor too expensive?

General Hagee also said there is going to be an investigation into that incident with the Marine shooting this week.

Hagee also said that he thinks having embedded reporters has helped.