Metz said IEDs have become the leading method of attack in Iraq.
Addressing the Association of the U.S. Army's Institute of Land Warfare on
June 4, he said insurgents have increased the average monthly IED production
to 2,800.
"That's not trivial," Metz said. "That's a factory somebody is paying
for — the bomb makers to make it, logistics to deliver it, people to
disburse it, dig it in and to ignite it."
The general said the military's counter-IED campaign has been enhanced
by air and ground surveillance. Metz said the military in Iraq employs
unmanned aerial vehicles, robots and specialized search dogs to detect and
jam remote-controlled IEDs.
"We have worked hard to get him [Iraqi insurgent] off the radio control
business, pushed out jamming devices, spending billions," Metz said. "We
pushed the enemy and pushed him away from that so his option was to go less
sophisticated, back to command wires and pressure plates."
