Joe Biden: “The bottom line, in simple English, for nonphysicists is, no matter how much you reinforce a flat-bottomed vehicle, when…”

“The bottom line, in simple English, for nonphysicists is, no matter how much you reinforce a flat-bottomed vehicle, when a bomb goes off under the vehicle, it either penetrates the vehicle or penetrates the vehicle, bounces back, and comes back up off the ground again. With these V-shaped vehicles, what happens is, when the blast goes off--other than the very point of the V--it takes the blast and, instead of it bouncing back on the ground and bouncing back up, it shoots it off to the side, thereby increasing by two-thirds the likelihood of survival. No one should give us any of the malarkey I have heard from some in the military and the administration about how any uparmored humvee might have satisfied the need. The bottom line is, they cannot do what these V-shaped vehicles can do. Now, not only have these mine-resistant vehicles been fully tested at Aberdeen, but our allies have been using similar technologies for years. We are going to get down to the bottom of what happened in 2005. But for now, let me get right to the chase. We have an overwhelming moral obligation to build as many of these vehicles as rapidly as possible and get them to the field as soon as possible--even if we are pulling out every single troop in January. Between now and January, we have an obligation to save lives. It is within our capability and within our power to do so.”