Why Wars and Lawyers Don’t Mix

The most deadly weapon facing our armed forces is the improvised explosive device, or IED. These modern-day landmines account for 40% of U.S. fatalities in Iraq.

The Pentagon is seeking to marginalize the threat posed by IEDs. As our government is finally supplying our troops with better protected mine-resistant vehicles, a small army of robots, bomb dogs, sensors, reconnaissance drones, and good old-fashioned raids are putting terrorist IED cells out of business.

But with more troops downrange as part of the “surge” strategy, IED casualties are at their highest levels over the past few months. The terrorists are fighting the most advanced army on earth with spare explosives and $10 worth of parts from the hardware store.

The new MRAP vehicles and door-to-door raids are great, but how about fixing IEDs before they even become a problem?

Well, Uncle Sam tried to do exactly that in 2004. The CIA believed that there may only be 11 manufacturers assembling IEDs. They knew that if they sabotaged the bomb-making process, say with booby-trapped detonators designed to blow up the guy making the bomb, they could seriously cripple the IED threat.

But wait – there’s lawyers. The CIA General Counsel said that the CIA lacked the authority to make it happen. Who has the authority? Someone does. What are they afraid of?

Since the beginning of 2005, 1277 of our finest Americans have lost their lives to IED attacks. Thousands more have been wounded. Whoever has the authority seriously dropped the ball. If we are at war, and militant Islam seems to think we are, it is time to start acting like it.

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