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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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December 9th,
2008 - Report: IED Threat Known Before War |
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Report: IED Threat Known
Before War New Pentagon Report Reveals Military Leaders Knew About IED Dangers
Prior to War By Peter Eisler ABC News December 9, 2008 Washington - Military
leaders knew the dangers posed by roadside bombs before the start of the Iraq
war but did little to develop vehicles that were known to better protect
forces from what proved to be the conflict's deadliest weapon, a report by
the Pentagon inspector general says. The Pentagon "was aware
of the threat posed by mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) &
and of the availability of mine resistant vehicles years before insurgent
actions began in Iraq in 2003," says the 72-page report, which was
reviewed by USA TODAY. The report is to be made
public today. Marine Corps leaders
"stopped processing" an urgent request in February 2005 for Mine
Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles from combat commanders in Iraq's
Anbar province after declaring that a more heavily armored version of
existing Humvee vehicles was the "best available" option for
protecting troops, the report says. Marine officials "did
not develop a course of action for the (request), attempt to obtain funding
for it or present it to the Marine Corps Requirements Oversight Council for a
decision on acquiring" MRAPs, the report says. The military continued
relying mainly on Humvees until May 2007, when then-incoming Defense
secretary Robert Gates called procurement of the MRAPs his top priority.
Since then, the Pentagon has spent more than $22 billion to buy more than
15,000 of the vehicles. When field commanders first
began requesting MRAPs, military officials saw the armored Humvees as a more
immediate option to countering IEDs, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell
said. "The threat has evolved and our force protection measures have
evolved with it," he said. The Marines requested the
inspector general's investigation in February after an internal report
accused the Corps of "gross mismanagement" of the urgent request
for MRAPs. Hundreds of Marines died unnecessarily because of delays in
fielding the vehicles, said the Jan. 22 study by Franz Gayl, a retired Marine
officer and civilian science adviser. Two U.S. senators - Democrat
Joe Biden of Delaware, now the vice president-elect, and Republican Kit Bond
of Missouri - demanded an investigation after details of Gayl's study were
published. "The Pentagon was aware
of the threat IEDs posed to our troops prior to our intervention in Iraq and
still failed to take the steps to acquire the technology needed to reduce the
risk," Bond said after reviewing the report. "Some bureaucrats at
the Pentagon have much to explain." USA TODAY detailed the
Pentagon's failure to move quickly on MRAP development in a series of stories
last year. Gates credited one of those stories with sparking his interest in
the vehicles. Marine commanders in Iraq's
then-volatile Anbar province sought 1,169 MRAPs in the February 2005 urgent
request. "There is an immediate need for an MRAP vehicle capability to
increase survivability and mobility of Marines operating in a hazardous fire
area," it said. The inspector general's
report says that Marine officials advised Marine Corps commandant Michael
Hagee at the time that armored Humvees were the "best available, most
survivable" vehicles to meet the request. MRAPs are far more resistant
to IEDs and landmines than armored Humvees because they're higher off the
ground and rest on a V-shaped hull, which deflects blasts from the vehicle's
underside. Copyright © 2008 ABC News
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