I would agree, they are not being ignored, but articles like this are real:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/12/10/us_stance_on_armor_disputed/
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/12/11/a1.armor.1211.html
But it's not newspaper articles that tell me the real story. It's that soldiers really are picking though junkheaps scavenging for armor and have been for a very long time. It's that a soldier asked the question, the logic being that it the story had no merit, he wouldn't have asked... can you imagine going up against Don Rumsfeld? That guy's got balls, ones that were strengthened with conviction.
But that's not even the straw that broke the camel's back, because 1 guy is just too few data points to stake a position and make it stick.
No, it was the crowd of soldiers' reaction to the question. That tells it all.
It's tough to hear Rumsfeld say we are doing all we can and have contractors AND soldiers on the ground contradict that statement.
I really expect more from our administration, especially when campaigning was so heavily weighted on "we're the guys you can trust to get the job done right in Iraq."