ABC News is reporting that 19 American soldiers were killed in the attack on their mess tent in Mosul today.
I would have found this part of the article pretty astounding if I didn't already know that we don't provide armor for our troops:
Bill Nemitz, a columnist with the Portland Press Herald embedded with the Maine National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion, told CNN there was a concrete dining hall under construction that was supposed to be finished by Christmas. He said he heard "a lot of discussion" among the troops about the vulnerability of the tent.
[Lt. Col. Paul] Hastings [a spokesman for Task Force Olympia] told CNN that "there is a level of vulnerability when you go in there and you don't feel like there's a hard hard roof over your head, and when there's mortar attacks and explosions that happen, there is a level of vulnerability."
