thedrifter
07-01-07, 06:39 AM
Senators want probe of weapons, systems delays
By Alicia Mundy
Seattle Times Washington bureau
WASHINGTON — Two senior senators have asked the secretary of Defense to investigate what they call unwarranted delays in sending weapons and protection systems to troops in Iraq.
In a letter sent Friday to the Pentagon, Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Kit Bond, R-Mo., cited holdups for armored vehicles designed to withstand blasts from roadside bombs; concealed cameras that can pinpoint insurgent activity; and nonlethal lasers that temporarily blind unwelcome drivers approaching military checkpoints.
The lasers save Marines from shooting civilians who don't heed warnings to stop.
"We are concerned that the department is failing to respond to urgent war-fighter requirements because of unconscionable bureaucratic delays in Washington," the senators wrote. "In some cases, these delays have literally resulted in the death and injury of U.S. forces and innocent foreign nationals."
Biden and Bond also questioned the Pentagon's decision to buy a different brand of lasers from the one requested by Marines in the war zone. Several Marine officers complained that the lasers supplied by the Pentagon aren't as effective as the ones they requested.
The company that received the laser contract is based in Redmond.
The issue causing the most outrage among many on Capitol Hill is the delay in sending Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) to Iraq.
MRAPs have a V-shape chassis, better able to withstand roadside-bomb blasts that cause 80 percent of military casualties in Iraq, according to the Army.
Marines requested the vehicles in February 2005. During an Iraq visit in June 2006, Biden was told by a general that the much-needed MRAPs were on the way.
But the secretary of the Army said in a Senate hearing in March that the military could not afford them. Biden was furious, an aide said. Pentagon procurement officers instead had substituted cheaper, conventional Humvees.
One of the toughest critics of holdups with the MRAPs and nonlethal lasers is Marine Corps science advisor and retired Maj. Franz Gayl. He has called the MRAPs holdup "negligence."
Gayl, who spent six months in Iraq, detailed the delays in memos and charts for Defense Department officials. He has asked for federal "whistle-blower" protection.
Roadside bombs are responsible for many cases of traumatic brain injury, even among those in widely acclaimed Stryker vehicles. One explosion killed six soldiers in a Stryker on May 6.
Under pressure from Congress, the Pentagon recently said it will work with the manufacturer to fill a rush order for 3,700 MRAPs for the Marines. The military also will order about 10,000 for the Army. The cost could be more than $25 billion.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in May voted for $3 billion for MRAPs in the Iraq spending bill; that's $1.2 billion more than President Bush requested. Murray pushed Defense Secretary Robert Gates in February to confirm that Fort Lewis soldiers were receiving upgraded weapons and protection. "When we send our troops into battle, we have an obligation to give them the equipment they need to complete their missions safely and effectively," she said in a statement. Gates said Thursday that MRAPs deployment was his No. 1 priority.
Bond, meanwhile, wants to know why Marines have not deployed more minicameras, called the Concealed Tele-Video System. A general in Iraq told Bond in April that the camera system allows troops to monitor streets for insurgent activity safely from 200 yards away.
The Pentagon's decision to send lasers made by B.E. Meyers of Redmond to Iraq has come under fire from some Marine officers and from Gayl.
Commanders in Iraq asked for lasers called Dazzlers, made by a Connecticut company, LE Systems, in an urgent request in May 2005. Marines at the Pentagon sent the different lasers, called the Green Beam, 18 months later.
Gayl said the LE Systems device is better. In internal e-mails, two Marine lieutenant colonels agreed, but Marines in D.C. said this year that the Dazzler is not as safe as Meyers' laser.
Gayl, who holds a patent for a nonlethal weapon that uses light and sound, objected.
"It's not rocket science," he said. "It's just a beam of light."
Citing tests at an Air Force research lab, he said, "Their testing determined the Dazzler was safer at closer range and more effective at longer range than the Green Beam."
In e-mails, a Meyers executive said, "B.E. Meyers & Co. is the only company producing laser dazzlers that have been approved" by the Navy.
Alicia Mundy: 202-662-7457 or amundy@seattletimes.com
Ellie
By Alicia Mundy
Seattle Times Washington bureau
WASHINGTON — Two senior senators have asked the secretary of Defense to investigate what they call unwarranted delays in sending weapons and protection systems to troops in Iraq.
In a letter sent Friday to the Pentagon, Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Kit Bond, R-Mo., cited holdups for armored vehicles designed to withstand blasts from roadside bombs; concealed cameras that can pinpoint insurgent activity; and nonlethal lasers that temporarily blind unwelcome drivers approaching military checkpoints.
The lasers save Marines from shooting civilians who don't heed warnings to stop.
"We are concerned that the department is failing to respond to urgent war-fighter requirements because of unconscionable bureaucratic delays in Washington," the senators wrote. "In some cases, these delays have literally resulted in the death and injury of U.S. forces and innocent foreign nationals."
Biden and Bond also questioned the Pentagon's decision to buy a different brand of lasers from the one requested by Marines in the war zone. Several Marine officers complained that the lasers supplied by the Pentagon aren't as effective as the ones they requested.
The company that received the laser contract is based in Redmond.
The issue causing the most outrage among many on Capitol Hill is the delay in sending Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) to Iraq.
MRAPs have a V-shape chassis, better able to withstand roadside-bomb blasts that cause 80 percent of military casualties in Iraq, according to the Army.
Marines requested the vehicles in February 2005. During an Iraq visit in June 2006, Biden was told by a general that the much-needed MRAPs were on the way.
But the secretary of the Army said in a Senate hearing in March that the military could not afford them. Biden was furious, an aide said. Pentagon procurement officers instead had substituted cheaper, conventional Humvees.
One of the toughest critics of holdups with the MRAPs and nonlethal lasers is Marine Corps science advisor and retired Maj. Franz Gayl. He has called the MRAPs holdup "negligence."
Gayl, who spent six months in Iraq, detailed the delays in memos and charts for Defense Department officials. He has asked for federal "whistle-blower" protection.
Roadside bombs are responsible for many cases of traumatic brain injury, even among those in widely acclaimed Stryker vehicles. One explosion killed six soldiers in a Stryker on May 6.
Under pressure from Congress, the Pentagon recently said it will work with the manufacturer to fill a rush order for 3,700 MRAPs for the Marines. The military also will order about 10,000 for the Army. The cost could be more than $25 billion.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in May voted for $3 billion for MRAPs in the Iraq spending bill; that's $1.2 billion more than President Bush requested. Murray pushed Defense Secretary Robert Gates in February to confirm that Fort Lewis soldiers were receiving upgraded weapons and protection. "When we send our troops into battle, we have an obligation to give them the equipment they need to complete their missions safely and effectively," she said in a statement. Gates said Thursday that MRAPs deployment was his No. 1 priority.
Bond, meanwhile, wants to know why Marines have not deployed more minicameras, called the Concealed Tele-Video System. A general in Iraq told Bond in April that the camera system allows troops to monitor streets for insurgent activity safely from 200 yards away.
The Pentagon's decision to send lasers made by B.E. Meyers of Redmond to Iraq has come under fire from some Marine officers and from Gayl.
Commanders in Iraq asked for lasers called Dazzlers, made by a Connecticut company, LE Systems, in an urgent request in May 2005. Marines at the Pentagon sent the different lasers, called the Green Beam, 18 months later.
Gayl said the LE Systems device is better. In internal e-mails, two Marine lieutenant colonels agreed, but Marines in D.C. said this year that the Dazzler is not as safe as Meyers' laser.
Gayl, who holds a patent for a nonlethal weapon that uses light and sound, objected.
"It's not rocket science," he said. "It's just a beam of light."
Citing tests at an Air Force research lab, he said, "Their testing determined the Dazzler was safer at closer range and more effective at longer range than the Green Beam."
In e-mails, a Meyers executive said, "B.E. Meyers & Co. is the only company producing laser dazzlers that have been approved" by the Navy.
Alicia Mundy: 202-662-7457 or amundy@seattletimes.com
Ellie