Posted on 08/12/2005 7:07:56 AM PDT by Wiz
WASHINGTON - The commander of U.S. transportation and other logistics forces in Iraq said Friday that the number of roadside bomb strikes against his troops throughout Iraq has doubled in the past year.
Army Brig. Gen. Yves J. Fontaine, commander of the 1st Corps Support Command, said the number of insurgent attacks along supply routes has grown to about 30 per week, although the U.S. casualty rate has declined because extra protective armor has been installed on supply trucks and other vehicles in the transportation fleet.
Most of the attacks, he said, are in the so-called Sunni Triangle region that extends north and west of Baghdad.
"As a matter of fact, we have seen an increase in the use of IEDs on our convoys," he said, using the military's acronym for improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs. "And our main threat is the IED for the logistics convoys coming from Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey, and then going to the Baghdad area."
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon by a video link from his headquarters at Balad air base, north of Baghdad, Fontaine said more than 2,000 supply vehicles have been given extra armor and that no vehicle is sent outside a secure base without armor.
"That's a good news story, as far as our up-armoring is concerned," he said. "Because we have up-armored our vehicles the casualties have decreased significantly even though IED attacks are increasing." He did not offer specific casualty figures.
ping
I could have sworn I saw a stat on Fox news this AM that had all forms of attacks (IED, live-Fire, carbomb) going down in the last few months, but because of the improved precision and strength of the explosives, more casualties (especially in August) have resulted.
You did. This article is just another example of how the MSM twists facts and creates lies to serve their anti-US agenda.
How many "supply routes" are there in Iraq, and why don't we have Webcams all along them? Volunteers here in the U.S. could monitor the Webcams.
Check out how the DUmmies posted it...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1696246
They left off the last two paragraphs that talk about casualties decreasing...
Curious as to how he is defining casualties....
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