Kennedy Rebukes General On MRAP Request

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
March 18, 2008
Pg. 4
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
WASHINGTON — The commandant of the Marine Corps "misrepresented" the Corps' February 2005 request for armored vehicles to Congress and is unwilling to fix the way the Marines handle urgent pleas for new equipment, Sen. Edward Kennedy says in a letter to the commandant.
Gen. James Conway told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month that combat commanders didn't ask for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles in February 2005 but for new armored Humvees. That, Kennedy wrote Conway, is contradicted by the request itself.
"This is a clear request for MRAPs, and not armored Humvees," Kennedy writes. The Massachusetts Democrat and three other senators have criticized the Marines' slow response to requests from troops.
Conway has said the Marines sought armored Humvees in 2005 because they represented the "gold standard" for protection from roadside bombs that targeted the sides of vehicles. Further, the Marines have contended that industry was incapable at the time of producing large numbers of MRAPs, making armored Humvees the best choice.
Last May, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made MRAPs the Pentagon's top acquisition priority and a $22 billion program.
Kennedy, in his letter, states that MRAPs were noted 17 times in the 2005 urgent request while Humvees were not mentioned once.
"Your mischaracterization of the request itself, coupled with your inaccurate testimony on the status of the Marine Corps order on the urgent needs request process, concerns me a great deal," Kennedy writes.
The Marine Corps had no immediate comment on the letter, Maj. Manuel Delarosa said.
Last month, Kennedy joined Democratic Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri in calling on Gates to review how the Pentagon handles wartime requests for equipment.
In his letter Friday, Kennedy writes that Conway's testimony "underscores that the urgent needs process is broken, and that the review should start with the Marine Corps."
 
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