Tell me again...

Why Donald Rumsfeld got to keep his job?

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Armor Holdings Inc., the sole supplier of protective plates for the Humvee military vehicles used in Iraq, said it could increase output by as much as 22 percent per month with no investment and is awaiting an order from the Army.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday the Army was working as fast as it can and supply is dictated by ``a matter of physics, not a matter of money.''

Jacksonville, Florida-based Armor Holdings last month told the Army it could add armor to as many as 550 of the trucks a month, up from 450 vehicles now, Robert Mecredy, president of the company's aerospace and defense group said in a telephone interview today.

``We're prepared to build 50 to 100 vehicles more per month,'' Mecredy said in the interview. ``I've told the customer that and I stand ready to do that.''

Apparently the plant that makes the base Humvees, which Armor Holdings then armors, is also running below capacity. So that's not the problem.

I guess that "matter of physics" problem must involve the propagation of sound waves for an order that isn't given, or something. Some kind of tree-falling-in-the-forest deal, maybe. Or perhaps it's just that ordering more armor is "hard work."

Let's hear it for Ed Lococo at Bloomsberg, one reporter who remembers something about asking the obvious question, and doing some follow-up phone calls.