Did anyone hear the soldier call "Car Talk" from Iraq about armoring his vehicle?

[DeepModem Mom]

This is a second-hand report I just got: A soldier called the "Car Talk" guys on NPR from Baghdad asking advice about his self-armored vehicle. The armor added extra weight, the bad roads caused problems, etc.

An amazing dose of Iraq reality!

[karlrschneider]

1. Crap, I missed it. Usually try to listen but got hung up today...

...

[BrotherBuzz]

2. Wife confirmed - she heard it

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Thanks BrotherBuzz! nt

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. Fascinating. I hope someone else picked it up

[txindy]

6. Whoa! Okay, gotta ask....

How the heck did you do that window in window in window, etc. picture?! :shrug:

[krkaufman]

19. Umm... I suspect with any graphics program's "resize" tool ...

... and a chunk of free time.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

30. Yep, that's how I did it

Simple really.

[Pastiche423]

26. One way of doing it

is using a tool in Paint Shop Pro called Feedback.

[txindy]

39. Thank you. I had hoped it was an effect tool like that and not done manually.

Thanks, I'll check out Paint Shop Pro. I need new graphics tools.

:hi:

[txindy]

5. But, but, but.... Junior has given them all the armor and equipment they need!

:eyes: Or so says the perpetual spin of the freepers. :freak:

I hope the Car Talk guys were able to give that soldier good advice. I get absolutely disgusted whenever I see a Hummer on the roads here (and, unfortunately, I see an awful lot of them). I want to ask them if they're happy pretending to be soldiers in their fancy, pretend-Humvees when those vehicles have so many more safety features than the REAL Humvees REAL soldiers drive. Do they feel any sense of guilt? No, of course not. :grr:

[DeepModem Mom]

7. I heard that the guys were able to address the problems --

again, amazing!

[Mabus]

17. When Bush was here stumping for the losing GOP candidate

a bunch of us (100-120) showed up outside the venue to protest. After the event, people in these giant SUVs were leaving and yelling at us that we were losers, traitors, terrorist sympathizers, you know the usual stuff. Some of my retorts: "How many lives per gallon are you getting?" and "How many people died to fill your tank?"


There were a few Hummers there too. Several times I thought I was going to have to restrain both kiteinthewind and Proud2Blib from rushing across the street and dismantling both the Hummers and their drivers. Proud goes ballastic whenever she sees a Humvee.

[twilight_sailing]

8. Wish I hadn't missed that.

Hope the audio shows up on the net somewhere.

[A Simple Game]

14. Here's the web site for that show.

http://cartalk.com/Radio/Show/online.html

[DeepModem Mom]

15. Thanks, Simple Game! nt

[A Simple Game]

18. Lots of interesting stuff on their web site,

check out their homepage.

[Critters2]

28. For some reason my download to listen isn't working, but here's the overview of the show

Note segment 5:


"On this week's Car Talk, Tom and Ray help Jason keep Army vehicles on the road-- even after they're loaded down with a whopping 4,500 pounds of heavy metal. Caitlin and her dancing pals head off to a contra dance... but wind up with a 3,000 dollar tab. Is her mechanic trying to steal the clogs off her feet? Ray poses a 100,000 mile puzzler, and Tom shares a cautionary tale for shade tree mechanics who ply their trade in mall parking lots. This and much more, on this week's Car Talk.
Segments 1 - 10 You asked for it; you got it. Use this option to hear all 10 segments played consecutively.
Segment 1: Show open: Your mother was right. Also, my Corolla needs a cough drop.
Segment 2: Does she mess up like this often?
Segment 3: An expensive road trip.
Segment 4: Puzzler Answer: Overcoming inequality.
Segment 5: Two tons of body armor will do that...."

[twilight_sailing]

38. Thank YOU! eom

[uppityperson]

9. k&r for reality from Iraq and for Click&Clack for doing this!

drip drip drip, end the occupation of Iraq

[petronius]

10. I heard it - the guy said they were adding 4000-4500 extra lbs of armor

to their trucks, which was wearing out springs, ball joints, etc. in about a month. About the only advice they could give him was to lubricate much more frequently, and replace parts before they're likely to break. No mention of whether or not replacement parts were actually available...

[DeepModem Mom]

11. Thank you for a first-hand report, petronius! nt

[spanone]

12. SHAME on Bush* Cheney Rumsfeld et al.

[meldroc]

13. Disgusting that our troops have to be put these equipment problems.

For the jobs they're doing and the threats they're facing, even uparmored Humvees aren't even close to adequate.

They need to be riding around in M2 Bradley armored personnel carriers.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

20. their equipment was made for war.

not occupation. there is no equipment in the world that will deflect an explosion from a rigged artillery shell. not even an abrams.

[durtee librul]

35. Better yet,

why not have the co that armorizes (new word) the prez calvacade do the work on the military vehicles or at least give them advice.

After all we have all heard how well Chimpy and dead eye are protected in their presidential limos.....

[lady lib]

16. For anyone who missed today's show,

you might try listening tomorrow to see if it's re-played.

[stellanoir]

21. "aaaand don't drive like my brother. . ."

"Sponsored by the legal team of Do We Cheat "Em & How."

Love those guys. Can't stand this circumstance.

A functional or competant military would be appauled and deeply embarrassed by this.

[DeepModem Mom]

22. You're right. I'm thinking that a sizeable portion of our military...

may, in fact, be embarrassed by this.

[Jacobin]

23. LINK!!

Two tons of body armor will do that:

click on that segment to hear it

http://www.cartalk.com/Radio/Show/online.html

[DeepModem Mom]

24. THANK YOU!

[icymist]

25. They've taken it off!!!!

Segment 5, Titled 'Two Tons of body armor will do that' is now a repeat of Segment 6.
:wtf:

[DeepModem Mom]

29. I got a different segment, too! I thought I'd screwed up. nt

[icymist]

33. I hope somebody recorded it.

Looks like we're getting the same 'ol, same 'ol from the media.

[icymist]

34. I just listened to segments 1 through 10, it's been edited out!

Why? Oh why, Click & Clack?

[hlthe2b]

27. I did... they are having to replace ball joints, bearings, springs...

every few days.... because of the excess weight of armouring the vehicles... Sounds like they badly need to re-engineer these vehicles from scratch..

[meldroc]

40. Humvees aren't designed to have armor.

They're basically extra-rugged 4WD trucks, designed to do mostly the same work as the Jeep in WW2. They're designed to get troops and stuff from point A to point B and do work such as patrolling and scouting in areas that are mostly safe from enemy attack. In that role, they're great! They're tough, can drive on very rough terrain, and they're very reliable. They're not designed for heavy combat or guerrilla warfare. They're not designed to take enemy fire or resist explosives from IEDs, mines or RPGs. For that sort of work, you need combat vehicles such as an M1 Abrams tank, an M2 Bradley fighting vehicle, an M113 APC or Stryker, which are designed to carry heavy armor and bear weapons.

If the Bush administration, Rumsfeld and the Pentagon had just a few brain cells between them, they'd be providing our troops with the correct tools for the job, so they don't have to scavenge in junk yards for pieces of metal to create improvised armor, and constantly repair vehicles that are being strained by doing jobs they were never intended to do.

[lpbk2713]

31. I wonder who they could call about getting clean drinking water?

So they wouldn't have to drink the sewage water provided by Halliburton.

[judaspriestess]

32. and I'm sure the parts are being provided by halliburton

at about $10-20K for each part.

on edit:grr:

[KharmaTrain]

36. The Iraq Reality Comes Home With Each Returning Soldier

We're still too much in the forest to see the trees and those who have experienced either are keeping their memories tightly locked away or still are in that quagmire. It took nearly a decade for the true war experiences of Vietnam veterans to come to light as many continued to fight that war in their sleep and lives...and still do. Many of these vets did only one tour and the numbers of troops were so large that the traumas of the wars were nowhere near as intense as it is on those who are involved in this ugly invasion. We have many who have had two or three tours now...facing the worst kind of urban warfare...far different from the batallion on batallion during WWII and even the majority of the fighting in Vietnam that was conducted by "regulars". In Iraq everyone whose not an American is the enemy. One of the more common stories you hear is how one minute a local waves hello and the next out comes the RPG. The traumas being inflicted on the minds and psyches of these people will be with us for the rest of our lives and theirs...and unlike Repugnicans, we can't forget them as the war gets more and more unpopular.

[cassiepriam]

41. Yes, the horrible facts will be coming out one piece at a time.

For many years to come.
It will haunt the country for a very long time.

[Nikki Stone1]

37. NPR cut out the segment. Covering for Junior...again

Wanna know why you've lost funding, assholes?