Ugly is good

The Danger Room blog has an article about the MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected) vehicles in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. (And that's an acronym only the military could love.) Apparently the officers in Afghanistan are asking for hundreds more of them to "increase the chances of survival against roadside bombs". However, there's a problem: they roll over easily, and when they roll over into a canal (of which there are many in the area, especially in the delta in Iraq), the soldiers inside drown. (And ain't that a bitch, to die by drowning in a desert.)
"The report suggests that conditions leading to the April 23 incident appear to be common. The weight of the MRAP, up to 30 tons depending on the model and equipment upgrades, prompted the road to collapse and the MRAP to roll over into a canal."
"Road shoulders in the Middle East do not meet U.S. standards and may collapse under the weight of the MRAP, especially when the road is above grade and can fall to lower ground (ditches and canals),” the report states. “Nearly 75 percent of all rollover crashes occur in rural areas. The report also mentions another less-obvious hazard. Most combat vehicles have a very low profile to minimize their silhouette, but the MRAP stands much taller to give greater stand-off from mines. The antenna can reach up to sixteen feet, which presents a possible electrocution danger when encountering the with low power lines in developing countries."

Rico says you can't win for losing, sometimes, but drafting some orders to stay away from canals and putting on some dangling chains to ground the thing doesn't seem like a big deal...