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[Mari333]

WASHINGTON -- American troops are dying in Iraq and suffering amputations and other massive injuries while they confront the Iraqi insurgency in Humvees not designed to withstand front-line combat.



These lighter Humvees and other military vehicles have become the target of choice for anti-US guerrillas. Shrapnel from a roadside bomb, or even a simple AK-47 rifle round, can slice through the unarmored vehicles -- some of which have little more than vinyl fabric for their roofs and doors, troops who know them say.

"We're kind of sitting ducks in the vehicles we have," said Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Montera, commander of the Long Island, N.Y.-based 310th Military Police Battalion, which has crisscrossed the Iraqi countryside for months in those "soft-top" models.








http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2003/12/18/troops_seen_vulnerable_in_humvees/