Often considered the most dangerous job in the world, soldiers preparing to leave Kuwait for Iraq yesterday had the rare opportunity to bring their concerns over military equipment they need to do their jobs to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld:

[Wilson1]: Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmour our vehicles?

After the cheering from more than 2,300 mostly National Guard and Reserve soldiers died down, Army Spc. Thomas Wilson repeated his question. Rumsfeld gave this reply:

[Rumsfeld1]: As you know you go to war with the Army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

The tough questions for Rumsfeld didn't end there. Eight soldiers are currently suing the U.S. Army for their "stop-loss" policy, claiming it is keeping them illegally enlisted. A soldier addressed the policy with Rumsfeld, asking how much longer the Army planned to keep using it. Rumsfeld replied that the policy was a fact of life in wartime and would continue to be used "as little as possible."