Lethal gaps in protection

A NEW York Times story about Iraq combat fatalities linked to inadequate body armor reflects an unsettling lack of official urgency and a whiff of parsimony.

The report detailed a secret Pentagon report that 80 percent of Marines killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper torso might have survived if they had extra body armor. The added protection has been available since 2003 but the Pentagon largely declined to provide it despite calls from the field for the protection, the story said. Problems with the military's body armor have been known since the war began, along with the need to bulk up protection on various transport vehicles and troop carriers. The usual hazards from enemy fire have been compounded by the increasing sophistication and lethality of improvised explosive devices.

The story suggests a striking lack of stateside urgency, as time and financing for studies are accommodated and inter-service distinctions between the needs of Marines and Army soldiers are sorted out. For a nation that recently adopted a $441 billion defense budget for 2006, any hint of pinching pennies on the needs of troops in hazardous environs is especially galling.

Among military professionals, there is a debate about the limitations of extra weight and reduced mobility that additional armor plating might cause soldiers. At the same time, there are news accounts of body armor being modified on the scene with extra protective plates.

The judgment, experience and desires of the men and women who bear the hazards of daily patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan ought to inform efforts to protect them. Give them the option of equipment designed to protect now-vulnerable sides, shoulders and the upper and lower torso.

Hot, bulky body armor is a burden for soldiers, but it saves lives. The Pentagon already knows improved versions will save even more lives.