Panel on Iraq bombings grows to $3b effort

[Eugene]

(The Boston Globe)

Panel on Iraq bombings grows to $3b effort
Critics say it has been ineffective

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | June 25, 2006

WASHINGTON -- A special military task force on improvised explosive devices -- launched
in 2003 as a 12-person office to develop quick strategies for combating homemade bombs
in Iraq -- has quietly expanded into a $3 billion-per-year arm of the Pentagon, with more
than 300 employees and thousands of contract workers, according to Pentagon data analyzed
by the Globe.

The growth comes amid complaints within the military that the group's emphasis on
high-tech solutions -- mainly through big contracts to traditional defense companies --
has not succeeded in stemming the number of attacks.

<snip>

General John Abizaid , the head of US military forces in the Middle East, recently
complained to members of the IED group that its emphasis on multimillion-dollar contracts
to develop high-tech sensing equipment has been ineffective at curbing attacks by homemade
bombs, according to a person who was present.

<snip>

Some members of the House and Senate share the concern that by focusing on longer-term
projects, the task force is squandering its mission to provide quick, on-the-ground
solutions to homemade bombs, whether through technology or intelligence.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/06/25/panel_on_iraq_bombings_grows_to_3b_effort
(Boston Globe - free registration may be required)

[Up2Late]

1. O.K., where's the outrage? Might be the lousy headline?

Here's more: <http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2006/06/contractors_hij.html>

Contractors Hijack Counter IED Effort, Say Counter-Insurgency Experts

Bryan Bender of the Boston Globe is one of the best reporters on the Pentagon beat. His latest article takes a look at the rapid expansion of the relatively new Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), where $6 billion has been spent to date, and criticism of it.

Not surprisingly, an internal Pentagon report written by counter-insurgency specialists argued that the new bureaucracy has overly prioritized technical solutons at the expense of common-sensical, cheaper and more effective solutions, such as "preventing Iraqis from becoming part of the insurgency." Intelligence and short-term projects have been sidelined in favor of long-term expensive, Cold War style contractor-driven initiatives, say anonymous members of the task force which wrote the report. "The response to the IED has been primarily to increase force protection by emphasizing technical solutions which have proven insufficient," said the internal report. ``Business as usual will no longer suffice."

The head of JIEDDO, Brigadier General Daniel Allyn, told the Globe that his organization was not too close to large defense contractors: "We reach out to a broad array of people. We are interested in the what -- not the who. We don't have favorites."

However, one of those companies appears to may have been MZM Inc. (now Athena Innovative Solutions), whose former CEO, Mitchell Wade, has pled guilty to bribing disgraced Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA). MZM was looking for "Counter IED Specialists" last year and Athena is continuing the search. Whether MZM was inappropriately awarded contracts for counter IED work with JIEDDO, or not, is unknown.

(more at link) <http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2006/06/contractors_hij.html>