Body armor: everything just peachy, but we're going to make it better

Stung by a report that said that many soldiers died due to inadequate body armor, the armed forces respond:

The Army plans to send thousands of ceramic body armor plates to Iraq this year to better protect soldiers while the Marine Corps already is delivering such gear, military officers said Wednesday.

In a private appearance before members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the officers defended the body armor available to U.S. troops. A Pentagon study done last summer but only disclosed recently found that improved armor may have prevented or minimized torso wounds that proved fatal to Marines in Iraq.

Huh? I think they're saying that the body armor the troops already have is adequate (otherwise they're open to accusations of inadequately protecting soldiers), but they're going to upgrade it anyway. Either it's already adequate, in which case upgrading it is a waste, or it's not. If the latter is true, we sent our soldiers to Iraq with inadequately armored vehicles and inadequate body armor. This is what they call "supporting the troops"? Or do they think that putting a yellow ribbon magnet on your SUV is enough?

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