Pentagon faulted for not preparing for roadside bomb threat

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Defense Department knew years before insurgent actions began in Iraq of the threat posed by roadside bombs but failed to take available steps to mitigate the risk to US troops, a Pentagon audit concluded Tuesday.

The US Marine Corps asked the Pentagon's inspector general to perform the audit after coming under fire for setting aside an urgent request from field commanders in 2005 for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored vehicles.

"DoD (Department of Defense) was aware of the threat posed by mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in low-intensity conflicts and of the availability of mine-resistant vehicles years before insurgent actions began in Iraq in 2003," the audit found.

"Yet DoD did not develop requirements for, fund, or acquire MRAP-type vehicles for low-intensity conflicts that involved mines and IEDs," a summary of the report said.

"As a result, the department entered into operations in Iraq without having taken available steps to acquire technology to mitigate the known mine and IED risk to soldiers and Marines," it said.

Roadside bombs have proven to be the insurgents' deadliest weapon against US troops in Iraq, and MRAPs have been far more effective than armored Humvees in protecting troops from them.

Despite field commanders' urgent request for MRAPs in February 2005, the Marines opted several months later to replace all its Humvees in Iraq with up-armored versions of the jeep-like vehicle.

The Marine Corps deputy commandant for installations and logistics advised generals that up-armored Humvees were "the best available, most survivable asset to protect Marine Corps forces," the audit said.

At that point, the process for handling the request for MRAPs was halted, it said.

The report did not address the actions of the US Army, which moved more slowly than the Marine Corps in acquiring MRAPs.

The Marine Corps and the Army both relied mainly on up-armored Humvees in Iraq until 2007 when US Defense Secretary Robert Gates put the services on crash programs to acquire and field the life-saving MRAPs.