Soldiers have hard questions for Donald Rumsfeld

Everyone who's with me, raise his right hand.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld got an earful of discontent from troops about to be deployed to Iraq. In a question-and-answer session with troops in Kuwait, Rumsfeld was caught off guard when Army Spc. Thomas Wilson asked about having to scrounge for supplies:

Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?" Wilson asked. A big cheer arose from the approximately 2,300 soldiers in the cavernous hangar who assembled to see and hear the secretary of defense.

Rumsfeld hesitated and asked Wilson to repeat his question.

"We do not have proper armored vehicles to carry with us north," Wilson said after asking again.

More blustering came from the Secretary. The troops are unnerved, but had the nerve to question the Secretary of Defense right in front of TV cameras and the chain of command. The downward slide has started.