Based on USA Today's excellent report about the lack of armored vehicles in Iraq, the reason for the delay in supplying these life-saving necessities: excessive, foolhardy optimism about when the war would end. The top military brass always just assumed the occupation would end any day now and as a result, they kept putting off ordering these vehicles. It's estimated that if MRAPs (armored vehicles) had properly made their way to Iraq, it could've saved the lives of about 700 U.S. soldiers.