A defense consultant has found that one in four US troops killed in combat might still be alive if the US had properly equipped them with armor. This according to a report in Newsweek. The report noted that 142 coalition soldiers have died since the invasion from land mines or similar devices. Another 48 died from rocket propelled grenade attacks. Almost all of the dead were inside unprotected vehicles. Under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s lighter-is-better doctrine, the US left most of its armored tanks back in the US relying on unprotected vehicles such as Humvees. The Los Angeles Times reports so many Marines have been wounded recently that there is a backlog awaiting Purple Hearts