Pentagon Defunding Unprofitable Anti-IED Program

The new defense bill basically defunds a program that helps defend our troops from IED’s. Why are they doing this? Cenk Uygur, host of the The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

"A defense bill expected to be approved by the Senate Tuesday would eliminate the Pentagon office in charge of stopping roadside bombs that have been the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A little-noticed provision in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act would take away the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency’s (JIDA) independent status and subsume the office into an existing Pentagon agency — which critics say would essentially kill its work in coping with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

If a plan to transition the JIDA under an existing agency is not submitted nine months after the bill is passed, funds will be withheld, except for those directly supporting war activities.

The JIDA was set up in 2006 to coordinate the Pentagon’s fight against IEDs, from research and development to the acquisition of equipment to fielding that equipment in the battlefield.

While IEDs are no longer considered the threat they once were during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, they are being employed daily against U.S.-backed forces fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).”*

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