Steel Shortage and the Iraq War

By Jim Stavis

     It is nearly a daily occurrence when we watch the news and see an American transport vehicle that has been ambushed in Iraq. As the death toll mounts, we have realized that we have an incredible problem with the safety of our troops as we try and maintain the post-Saddam peace. At the heart of this matter is a lack of armor plate that is available for American troops to protect them from the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a letter to Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, wanted a complete explanation why military personnel deployed in the Middle East are forced to scrounge through garbage heaps to find armor for their vehicles and why has the United States not stepped up its production of these critical materials. The Department of Defense’s response has stated that it is not a matter of money or desire, but rather the logistics of not being able to produce enough armor. According to Durbin, “the reality is that our military personnel in the field lack nearly 3,500 armor kits for “soft-skinned” Humvees now in the theatre of operation. And even though we have adequate production capacity and facilities ready to make up this gap, the issue has never been treated with sufficient urgency by the Pentagon.”
     Unfortunately Durbin’s comments may be a matter of closing the barn door after the cows already fled. When U.S. policy makers decided to attack Iraq, they apparently failed to consider if the U.S. had the manufacturing capacity to produce all the special steel needed to make armor plate to “uparmor” the soft-skinned Humvees and trucks under daily attack from insurgents. Had they looked they would have found only one steel manufacturer (ISG) capable of producing the specially made metal. To fill the gap, an American distributor has been selling Canadian made steel to the military. To date, the distributors have managed to “speed-up” the process of “uparmoring” the fleet, but the completion will not occur until late March or April.
     The decline of U.S. manufacturing has compounded the unarmored vehicle problem. Because of import dumping of material in 2003 and the subsequent shortage of steel in 2004, there are not enough manufacturers left to make up for the shortfall. Unfortunately, the other mills that had produced armor steel have closed their doors within the past few years with the industry’s shakeout. As a result ISG has found their armor requirements increase five-fold from 6,500 tons in 2003 to 35,000 tons last year.
     As the mill tries to ramp up its production, American service members remain at risk from homemade bombs. All the experts agree that it will be between three and six months before all Humvees are armored and the end of the year before transport trucks are protected. Durbin’s observation begs the question, “Who has the strategic advantage in this war and what are we going to do about it?”

Push Pause, Part II

By Jim Stavis

     In December’s newsletter I wrote about my recent health scare that had occurred while vacationing in Madison, Wisconsin and what message it had provided to me. Now two months later, things have calmed down somewhat, but I still find messages in my life to inspire myself and others. I appreciate all the positive comments, the prayers and the concerns that many people have expressed.
In our article “Push Pause” the main idea was to take time out of your busy day and reflect on your life. Appreciate the good stuff in your life and try and make a change with the not-so-good. I recently saw a billboard from a local bank that read, “In additional to the counting of calories and carbs each day, be sure to count your blessings along the way.” I also heard a phrase that registered well with me, “Hard times do not last….. Only tough people do.”
     Finally, this story was sent to me by a dear friend:
A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present “Seven Wonders of the World.” Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:
Egypt’s Great Pyramids – Taj Mahal – Grand Canyon – Panama Canal – Empire State Building – St. Peter’s Basillica – China’s Great Wall.
     While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that just one student had not finished her list, so she asked if the girl needed help. She replied that she couldn’t quite make up her mind because there were so many… The teacher asked for her list. She hesitated and then read, “I think the Seven Wonders of the World” are:
To See – To Hear – To Touch – To Taste – To Feel – To Laugh – To Love
The room was quiet. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous. Another reason to take pause.