Bowing to Pressure, Army Adds to Soldiers’ Armor

NYT: WASHINGTON - Army officials said Wednesday that they had decided to send additional body armor to Iraq to protect soldiers from insurgents’ attacks.

The ceramic plates now worn by most members of the military shield just some of the upper body from bullets and shrapnel, and the Army said it would buy plates that would extend this protection to the sides of soldiers. The officials spoke after a closed session of the Senate Armed Services Committee, held after The New York Times reported last week that a Pentagon study had found that extra armor could have saved up to 80 percent of the marines who died in Iraq from upper body wounds. | story