Posted by lex, on November 20, 2007
Sometimes you’ve got to break a few eggs:
The outgoing head of the organization tasked with combating roadside bombs said Monday that it will run out of money by Dec. 1.
The Joint IED Defeat Organization currently has about $413 million, said retired Gen. Montgomery Meigs.
Unless JIEDDO gets more money from Congress, it will not have enough money to fund new initiatives to beat roadside bombs, said Meigs, who leaves Nov. 30.
Congress had allocated about $1.6 billion for JIEDDO but the bill failed to come to a vote in the Senate after the House passed a version that called for a “limited presence” of U.S. troops in Iraq by December 2008.
Meigs said JIEDDO has asked Congress for temporary funding, but he doesn’t know when the group will get the money, or how much it can expect.
Improvised Explosive Devices – IEDs – have been the number one killer of coalition troops in Iraq, and JIEDDO is at the forefront of developing tactics, techniques and procedures to counter them.
Lives may be lost as the politicians posture and pander. I guess that’s just the price you have to pay.
