Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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I'm going to echo Glenn Reynolds a bit in this post — I don't think yesterday's tough questions for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is a bad thing for him, for the troops, for the effort in Iraq, or for anybody, really.

I'm sure Specialist Thomas Wilson feels better now that he's asked the question, because he's gotten his needs front and center to his boss, with the whole world watching.

Rumsfeld is better off, because he's now got a crystal clear picture of the mood on the ground, and how the system to make sure the troops get the equipment they need isn't working as fast as it should.

The troops now have a clear picture of the logistics. To quote the Times:

The Pentagon spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, speaking Wednesday in Washington after the Kuwait session, said that the military was now producing 450 armored Humvees a month, compared with just 15 a month in the fall of 2003, when the threat of roadside bombs began to emerge. He also said that three out of four Humvees in the war zones were armored, and that unarmored vehicles were used in back-up operations. It was hard to gauge the scope and seriousness of the equipment problems cited by the two soldiers and by several others in interviews later. A senior officer in Specialist Wilson's unit, Col. John Zimmerman, said that 95 percent of the unit's more than 300 trucks had insufficient armor...

"It's not a matter of money or desire," Lt. Gen. R. Steven Whitcomb, the commander of Army forces in the Persian Gulf, told the troops after Mr. Rumsfeld asked him to address Specialist Wilson's question. "It's a matter of the logistics of being able to produce it."

I'm sure the exchange between the troops and Rumsfeld is going to be headline news around the world. And that's not a bad thing. How many Russian troops get to ask their generals or Defense Ministers these kinds of questions? How many Syrian, or Iranian, or North Korean soldiers get to keep their bosses accountable? (Also, how many of these armies are as well equipped as U.S. troops, even on their bad days?)

The message of yesterday's Q and A session is clear - we can figure out who to blame later, but right now, we just need to get the troops all that they need as quickly as possible.

[Posted 12/09 09:55 AM]