Guys, quit trying to make justifications.
Woodland is the WRONG camo for this job, and we've known for a long time that we would be spending a LOT of time in the middle east.
Do you know why everything is still green/woodland? It's so that soldiers AT HOME will match and look "squared away" for the VIPs that visit, so that high-ranking officers look good to their superiors.
The woodland pattern was selected in the 80's with the assumption that major US fighting would be in Germany and Eastern Europe. It works decently there, but is BAD for the places we've been for the last 20 years.
But, woodland is the "standard" pattern, so all of the web gear, heavy coats, and other stuff is all OD green or woodland, as are most vehicles. You see, if a solder at home was wearing a green uniform with a tan/desert jacket, belt, web gear, or whatever, that would just be unacceptable! It would look SLOPPY! So everything must match the "standard" color, even it that means that the camo is totally ineffective when deployed for war.
THAT's the mentality we're dealing with, and we're far from the only country with this problem.
I've been saying for years that we should make the desert pattern our "default" and make all of our gear that color. It's MUCH easier to turn tan into green than vice versa...
-Troy