Pentagon Knew Humvees Were Death Traps
Military waste isn’t just a matter of dollars and sense. The military also engages in a shocking waste of human lives. According to the USAToday, the Pentagon knew that Humvees would not protect soldiers from roadside bombs in Iraq, and sent soldiers out to die in the vehicles anyway. The article, written by Tom Vanden Brook, reports,
“Army and Marine Corps officials knew nearly a decade before the invasion of Iraq that its workhorse Humvee vehicle, was a “deathtrap” even with armor added to protect it against roadside bombs, according to an inspector general’s report.
Reports distributed throughout the Army and Marine Corps after the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the Somalia conflict in 1994 urged the development of armored vehicles to avoid the devastating effects of roadside bombs and land mines, but the Pentagon failed to act”