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Insurgents growing more effective Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20041215/2004-12-15T183838Z_01_N15651196_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-USA-INSURGENTS-DC.htmlhttp://reuters.myway.com/article/20041215/2004-12-15T183838Z_01_N15651196_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-USA-INSURGENTS-DC.html
Iraq Insurgents Growing 'More Effective'-US General
Dec 15, 1:38 PM (ET)
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bold, innovative insurgency is becoming more effective against U.S. supply lines in Iraq and explosive attacks have slowed military operations there, a senior American general said on Wednesday.
"They have had a growing understanding that where they can affect us is in the logistics flow," Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, deputy chief of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters.
"They have gotten more effective in using IEDs," Smith added, referring to improvised explosive devices hidden beside roads by guerrillas fighting U.S.-led forces in Iraq.
"He (the insurgency) is becoming more effective," the general said. "They may use doorbells today to blow these things up. They may use remote controls from toys tomorrow. And as we adapt, they adapt."
Smith said U.S. forces in Iraq now totaled 148,000 troops -- up from 138,000 at the start of this month and near the 150,000 planned to protect national elections in January -- but that roadside explosives were hindering military operations and reconstruction nearly two years after the U.S.-led invasion of that country.
"Yes, they are," Smith replied when asked if response to such attacks was slowing down operations.
"They cause us to re-route vehicles. They cause us to have to employ tactics - although the tactics are generally successful - in avoiding them. And (they) cause us to have to convoy where maybe otherwise we would prefer to move in smaller numbers."
"HAVING AN IMPACT'
"So it is having an impact," the general said.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the military have been sharply criticized by members of Congress and defense analysts for not anticipating the growing Iraqi insurgency and its explosive attacks against convoys that have killed hundreds of U.S. troops in the past year.
The commander of the U.S. Air Force announced on Tuesday that the military in Iraq had begun using C-130 military cargo aircraft to ferry some food and equipment high above dangerous roadways in order to relieve pressure on ground convoys.
At another Pentagon briefing on Wednesday, Army officials said the service was spending $4.1 billion in an accelerated effort to provide protective armor for Humvee jeeps, trucks and other U.S. military vehicles in Iraq. They said all such vehicles in Iraq, including cargo trucks, were expected to have factory-installed or other armor kits by next June.
The insurgency "is a very, very sophisticated enemy," Army Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes told reporters. "A year ago, the amount of explosive that was being used in an IED was much less than it is now."
The comments came after a U.S. soldier complained to Rumsfeld in Kuwait last week that troops had to scrounge for scrap metal to protect their vehicles.
"I'm not in the Monday morning quarterbacking business," Speakes said when pressed by reporters on criticism that the Pentagon has had to scramble to defend against insurgent strikes.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sorensen and other Army officers said the Army Proving Ground at Aberdeen, Md., was testing armor samples proposed by large and small defense firms on an around-the-clock basis against rocket propelled grenades and other weapons used by insurgents.
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