Congress eyes US effort to defeat roadside bombs

A secretive agency is slated to get a 30 percent boost in funding, but some question its effectiveness.

from the March 23, 2007 edition

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The agency's success is hard to talk about publicly, Mr. Meigs acknowledged during a media roundtable earlier this month. But he pointed out that while IED attacks on American forces are up dramatically since 2005, the number of attacks that result in US casualties has remained relatively stable. While Meigs points to that trend as a success story, he provided no evidence to show how much his organization has contributed to that trend.

Much of the agency's budget is spent on "capabilities," he said. That includes communications, equipment, jammers to disrupt bomb-triggering devices, and some force protection equipment. The agency also spent $20 million on medical research in mitigating casualties from IED blasts. Nearly 10 percent of its budget is spent on training, Meigs said.

"We buy a lot of gear," Meigs said. "We invest in a lot of things that result in a capability."

Efforts include learning more about a new, more powerful roadside bomb called an Explosively Formed Projectile, or EFP. Defense officials say materials for EFPs are shipped in from Iran.

But technology may not be the answer, if a look at the agency's shifting budget priorities is any indication. The agency is beginning to invest heavily in "offensive operations" to defeat the networks that place roadside bombs – and de-emphasize the gadgetry that can be used to clear such bombs from the road. In 2006, the agency spent 13 percent of its budget on offensive operations, while this year's budget allocates 31 percent to those activities.

JIEDDO's proposed budget for fiscal 2008 is $4.4 billion, more than 30 percent higher than this year's budget. Congressional staffers said it has been given $5 billion in the past 18 months. Noting its rapid growth and massive budget last year, Sen. Ted Stevens (R) of Alaska, then a subcommittee chairman under the Senate Appropriations Committee, asked the GAO to look into JIEDDO's effectiveness at fielding equipment, sharing information and spending.

Senate and House appropriators have received a draft of the GAO report on the JIEDDO and are expecting a final report "shortly," said Mike Yuen, a spokesman for Sen. Daniel Inouye (D) of Hawaii.

JIEDDO personnel and a Web-based system that allows troop units to securely share information about IED attacks are useful, Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multinational Division-North in Iraq, said during a video-conference with reporters at the Pentagon March 9. "But it's that soldier on the ground, those engineers that are out there clearing, and our soldiers that are out there operating, understanding the terrain, seeing differences in things on the roadways, and that's one of the reasons that our detection rate has gone way up."

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