Yahoo! News - Bush, Rumsfeld Try to Soothe Angry U.S. Troops
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Thursday U.S. troop concerns about inadequate equipment for Iraq combat are being addressed and he did not blame soldiers for raising the issue with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

A day after he was bombarded with criticism from U.S. soldiers based in Kuwait, Rumsfeld promised more would be done to protect forces and that steps were being taken to deal with explosive devices, a lead cause of death in Iraq, where more than 1,000 American soldiers have been killed in action.

Meeting with troops in Kuwait on Wednesday, Rumsfeld heard a complaint from Spc. Thomas Wilson that U.S. forces were forced to dig up scrap metal to protect their vehicles in Iraq because of a shortage of armored ones.

"I don't know what the facts are but somebody's certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know, and that's a good thing. I think it's a very constructive exchange," Rumsfeld told reporters traveling with him on Thursday in India, another stop on his regional tour.

Try that one again, Don. This time in English.

A former platoon leader in Iraq and founder of an advocacy group for troops called Operation Truth said Rumsfeld's comments in Kuwait showed he was out of touch with reality.

"Mr. Rumsfeld really doesn't understand the reality on the ground that the troops are facing," said Paul Rieckhoff.

"All he keeps giving us is excuses. We don't want excuses, we want solutions," he added.

We've got the same problem here, soldier. Good luck to you all.