U.S. Spending Billions to Stop Iraq IEDs [View All]

U.S. Spending Billions to Stop Iraq IEDs
By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The United States is pouring billions more dollars and fresh platoons of experts into its campaign to "defeat IEDs," the roadside bombs President Bush describes as threat No. 1 to Iraq's future.

The American military even plans to build special, more defensible highways here, in its frustrating standoff with the makeshift munitions — "improvised explosive devices" — that Iraqi insurgents field by the hundreds to hobble U.S. road movements in the 3-year-old conflict.

Out on those risky roads, and back at the Pentagon, few believe that even the most advanced technology will eliminate the threat.

"As we've improved our armor, the enemy's improved his IEDs. They're bigger, and with better detonating mechanisms," said Maj. Randall Simmons, whose Georgia National Guard unit escorts convoys in western Iraq that are regularly rocked, damaged and delayed by roadside blasts.

Lt. Col. Bill Adamson, operations chief for the anti-IED campaign, was realistic about the challenge in a Pentagon interview. "They adapt more quickly than we procure technology," he said of the insurgents.

Casualty charts show a growing problem.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060313/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_threat_no1