Since late 2003, the IED has been the most pressing tactical threat to American forces in Iraq. Now, via the Danger Room, we’re seeing two positive signs that the IED threat has been mitigated–though certainly not yet neutralized. First, Noah Shachtman reports on the decision to cut the budget for JIEDDO, the Joint IED Defeat Organization:
I think we can safely say that JIEDDO has had little to do with the recent decline in casualties, and, apparently, neither has the Pentagon’s push for more mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles. Here Jason Sigger, also writing at Danger Room, quotes from Defense News:
Sigger’s reaction:
Well, the WWS for one, and Jason Sigger for another–back in May both of us were calling for a serious rethink of the rush to MRAP. But only kow that the IED threat has been somewhat brought under control can Congress reassess both MRAP and JIEDDO funding without Joe Biden’s grandstanding. And for this we can thank the Petraeus strategy, and the Awakening movement, which have allowed U.S. forces and their newfound allies to go on offense against insurgent IED teams, rather than taking increasingly defensive measures like deploying heavily armored vehicles and sophisticated electronic countermeasures. Killing the bad guys was always going to be the only solution to the problem, and finally, with this new strategy, it’s the solution we’re getting–and it’s working. If it wasn’t, neither Congress nor the Pentagon would have the courage to reevaluate either of these programs.
