Army Faces Rising Number of Roadside Bombs in Iraq

Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post Staff Writer

Roadside bombs in Iraq escalated to record levels this summer -- to about four times the number of January 2004 -- as tips from Iraqi citizens warning of the bombs and other attacks have dropped sharply amid a flaring of sectarian violence, according to a senior U.S. defense official. The leading killer of U.S. troops in Iraq, about 1,200 improvised explosive devices [IEDs] were detonated in August as insurgents continue to invent new ways to design and hide the lethal munitions, according to retired Army Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, which is spearheading efforts to curb the bombs...

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