The Issue: Soldiers concerned about inadequate armor, helmets

Their View: Congress should be finding a solution to the problem

It has become clear the U.S. military simply was not prepared to cope with the type of fighting troops are encountering in parts of Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers continue to complain - privately, in most cases - about not having adequate helmets and body armor. They continue to express worry to friends and loved ones about what will happen if someone detonates an improvised explosive device - an IED - as their vehicles, with little or no armor on them, pass by.

In some cases friends, families, even communities are buying protective equipment on the open market and sending it to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Better they provide it than the troops be exposed to danger unnecessarily.

But why hasn't the government caught up to the situations in Afghanistan and Iraq? That's a question President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and members of Congress should be asking at the Pentagon.

- The (Tiffin) Advertiser-Tribune