Was Lack of Armor Really to Blame?

The recent politicization of a report from the Pentagon was extremely unhelpful and potentially deadly in the future. The subject of course was that the report said that more Marines would b alive today if they had had more armor. Some politicians took that and used it to blame those in power or authority to show how the war is poorly managed.

The report did not answer these questions:
1. If they had been wearing more armor from the beginning, could they have died from a lack of mobility and ability to take offensive action?
2. If they had been wearing more armor, would other servicemen have died or been injured from their lack of mobility?

Unfair questions to ask of an analytic report? Perhaps, but definitely real and relevant questions.

Combat is not a computer game. It is real and our servicemen get hurt, lose limbs and die from it. History has shown that many in combat figure out very quickly what works and what doesn't. From the Normandy invasion where some non-com figures out to weld iron rakes to the front of tanks to break through the hedgerows to Greneda, where a young soldier or marine makes a long distance call back stateside to call for supporting fire because the radio got killed, our servicemen are not dumb.

See this story for a first person explanation for why they don't want more heavy body armor.