Why can't marines get a safer vehicle?

Although rich Hollywood actors may love the Humvee, its basically a crap vehicle that offers little protection for our American men and women in Iraq. There is an ongoing effort to push for the Defense Departmnet to work with non-traditional defense suppliers to improve force protection, but the 40-year-old procurement system stymies acquisition of new equipment.

With the limits to the Humvee, members of Congress can choose to ride in the M1117 Guardian Security Vechile or Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield can sit in the steel fortress, Israeli Rhino Runner, while in Iraq when regular American troops have to carry out dangerous missions everyday in a Humvee. You might ask, "what if we fully armor all the crap Humvees?" Well, the New York Times recently reported that "even the most fully armored Humvee is no longer safe from the increasingly powerful insurgency bombs."

So "lets get better vehicles" you might also say. The problem is price. At roughly $700,000 each, the M1117 is considerably more expensive than the current $140,000 price for an armored Humvee. But with that said, the army has begun to place orders for the M1117 reaching a level of 290.

I think the price isn't too high to pay for the replacement of all Humvees with either the M1117s or Rhinos. Our service men and women deserve the best and budget concerns should not come in the way of their safety.