$1.7 Billion for New Presidential Helicopters >>>

Couldn't they have spent some of this on armor for the soldiers' Humvees?

__________________________




Marine One carrying US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and two decoy helicopters approach the White House 07 January 2005(AFP/Brendan Smialowski)

__________________________




US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) disembarks Marine One on 27 January 2004. The US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a 1.7 billion dollar contract to built the next fleet of the presidential helicopters(AFP/Leslie E. Kossoff)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050128/photos_bs_afp/050128235115_simnata4_photo0

__________________________





Marine One, the call sign for the presidential helicopter flown by the Marine Corps when President Bush (news - web sites) is aboard, prepares to land on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Jan. 28, 2005, in Washington. The U.S. Presidential Helicopter is a Sikorsky VH-3D, but Friday the U.S. Navy (news - web sites) chose Lockheed Martin to build the next fleet of presidential helicopters. Lockheed's winning entry, the US101, is based on a British-Italian AgustaWestland aircraft, now owned by Italy's Finmeccanica, and the helicopter has several key components, including the main transmission and rotor blades, that will be built overseas. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

__________________________