Rumsfeld's Assurance on Armored Vehicles Disputed

Donald Rumsfeld's assertion that the Army is working to solve the problem of unarmored vehicles as quickly as possible is untrue, according to the company that makes the vehicles. That company, Armor Holdings in Jacksonville, Florida, told the Boston Globe that they are ready to start production on as many as 100 new Humvees per month, but that the Army has been sitting on the purchase orders since September, failing to approve them.

The company says that by February it could be producing as many as 550 fully armored Humvees per month -- with armor plates on the sides, front, rear, top, and bottom -- if given the go-ahead. The company estimated it would cost the military about $150 million a year to pay for the additional 100 vehicles per month.

Army officials interviewed by the Globe admitted that they "have not approved new purchase orders for armored vehicles, despite the company's readiness to produce more."