Still going on.

It goes on.

Five US soldiers have been killed and five wounded in roadside bomb attacks in little over 24 hours, the US military said on Sunday.

Three soldiers were killed and another wounded when their patrol struck a roadside device near Tuz, some 180 kilometres north of Baghdad, late on Friday, the military said in a statement. It gave no further details.

In western Iraq, on the main road leading to the border with Jordan, one US soldier was killed and three wounded when their combat patrol hit a roadside bomb early on Sunday.

In Baghdad, a fifth soldier died when his vehicle hit a device in the west of the city on Saturday, the military said. A second soldier was wounded in that attack.

But you gotta wonder if that has anything to do with this.

For the second time since the Iraq war began, the Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks by insurgents. ......

The effort to replace the armor began in May 2004, just months after the Pentagon finished supplying troops with the original plates - a process also plagued by delays. The officials disclosed the new armor effort Wednesday after questioning by The New York Times, and acknowledged that it would take several more months or longer to complete.

Citing security concerns, the officials declined to say exactly how many more of the stronger plates were needed, or how much armor had already been shipped to Iraq.

It really is pretty unforgiveable that they haven't gotten all this straightened out by now. Also, make a point to notice how "security concerns" are being used to cover incompetence.