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IED

IEDs Pose Growing Risk on US Soil

Bush administration slow to develop strategy, say critics
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 20, 2007 12:01 PM CDT
IEDs Pose Growing Risk on US Soil
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is shown as he makes remarks during a news conference Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007, in Portland, Ore. Chertoff provided updates on Oregon's progress in the emergency preparedness exercise during a visit at a mock radiation detection facility. (AP Photo/Rick...   (Associated Press)

Improvised bombs—terrorists' weapon of choice in Iraq and elsewhere—pose a growing threat on US soil, but the Bush administration has been slow to devise a strategy against them, the Washington Post reports. The Bush team will soon issue a long-overdue plan to counter the so-called IEDs, but critics say a  lack of funding and training remain problems.

Homeland security chief Michael Chertoff, who earlier this year said IED plans "lack strategic guidance," says he's not waiting for the final plan to be approved and has doled out $1.7 billion to beef up training and technology at marine ports and airports. One analyst says action can't come fast enough. "If terrorists initiated an IED campaign in America today, it could paralyze us."  (More IED stories.)

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