1115.org

Maybe General Fluffer can weigh in on this one:

Soldiers will no longer be allowed to wear body armor other than the protective gear issued by the military, Army officials said Thursday, the latest twist in a running battle over the equipment the Pentagon gives its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
[…]
“We’re very concerned that people are spending their hard-earned money on something that doesn’t provide the level of protection that the Army requires people to wear. So they’re, frankly, wasting their money on substandard stuff,” said Col. Thomas Spoehr, director of materiel for the Army.
[…]
Nathaniel R. Helms, editor of the Soldiers for the Truth online magazine Defense Watch, said he has already received a number of e-mails from soldiers complaining about the policy.

“Outrageously we’ve seen that (soldiers) haven’t been getting what they need in terms of equipment and body armor,” said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who wrote legislation to have troops reimbursed for equipment purchases. “That’s totally unacceptable, and why this directive by the Pentagon needs to be scrutinized in much greater detail.”

Even the leader of a group that agrees with the ban says: …the military is partially to blame for the problem because it took too long to get soldiers the armor they needed. “This is the monster they made.”

Maybe someone can explain to me how no armor is better than privately bought armor, and then go the extra mile of asskissery by drawing me a diagram of why the original shortage of armor was actually a good thing that I am just not experienced enough to fully comprehend.

Man, that would be awesome!