Pitting Wits Against Rumsfeld

Disgruntled American soldiers who challenged the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, about a shortage of armoured vehicles when he was visiting a staging post in Kuwait were put up to it by an embedded reporter, it emerged yesterday.

In an email to colleagues at the Chattanooga Times Free Press which was forwarded to a popular media website, Lee Pitts boasted that he used two of his military escorts to circumvent a ban on journalists questioning Mr Rumsfeld.

The paper's military correspondent called it one of the best days of his career.

The unusually frank exchange attracted widespread attention in America, and Mr Rumsfeld and George Bush were at pains yesterday to say that troops would have the best possible equipment.

"Beforehand we worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armour their vehicles going into combat have," Pitt says in his email.

"While waiting for the VIP, I went and found the Sgt in charge of the microphone for the question and answer session and made sure he knew to get my guys out of the crowd," he writes.

He goes on to describe his satisfaction at the way journalists from national newspapers immediately picked up the story and surrounded soldiers from the unit in which he was embedded.

He adds that the soldiers were lauded for their courage by fellow troops.

"I have been trying to get this story out for weeks - as soon as I found out I would be on an unarmoured truck," he writes.

"I believe lives are at stake with so many soldiers going across the border [to Iraq] riding with scrap metal as protection. It may be too late for the unit I am with, but hopefully not for those who come after."