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Subscribe to this threadJeep J8 marks brand's return to military duty
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Greg Koenig @ Sep 14th 2007 7:12PM
The thing is, in most of the current areas where militaries operate, EVERYWHERE is a combat zone. Most of the conflicts being fought across the globe today are Western style, formally organized militaries fighting Islamist militias. The predominant forms of attack employed by Islamist militants are roadside IEDs, vehicle born IEDs (VBIED) and walking suicide bombers (because your typical Islamofachist doesn't have the balls to stand up and gun it out). These attackers make little differentiation between civilian and military forces.
So where does the lightly armored Jeep J8 fit into that picture? Jeeps aren't big enough to seat the rear passengers outwards, so they have a difficult time fighting out of the vehicle. It is - at best - lightly armored and cannot withstand an IED. So basically, this is a vehicle that couldn't leave the confines of the Green Zone or one of our major base encampments.
As far as civilian use, well, the same rules apply. Though UN Aid workers don't need to fight out of the vehicle, there have been enough attacks against civilian aid organizations that those guy do not leave their camps in anything less then heavy, up-armored Suburbans and Ford Excursions. A lot of these guys are now beginning to demand V shaped hull, purpose built armored vehicles.