US soldiers may not be equipped with the latest protective equipment against chemical and biological attacks in the event of military action against Iraq, US Senators and a non-partisan government office have warned.
Additionally, some 250,000 defective suits have gone missing and may have been mixed in with functioning equipment.
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But a retired army general who commanded troops in Iraq in 1991 and is now consulting for the Pentagon told the newspaper that he believed US troops did have proper gear.
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The missing suits were manufactured by a company whose officers have been convicted of intentionally providing the Department of Defense with defective equipment.

More than half a million have been found and pulled from use, but 250,000 have not been accounted for, the General Accounting Office told Mr Shays's committee last month.

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