Pentagon Deputy Sees No Impact Yet From Lack of Funding

In an interview with Pentagon reporters late last week, the new deputy director for operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that he has not yet observed any repercussions from the delay in passage of an emergency armed services spending bill that President Bush vetoed last week. "From my foxhole, I have not seen any impact" on operations in Iraq or Afghanistan or on units that are preparing to go, said Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins. He echoed hopes that the Iraqi government adhere to its commitment to be politically neutral while it carries out the Baghdad security plan and that the pace of the Iraqi security force contributions speeds up. "Well, I can tell you I think everybody wants things to move a little quicker," Wiggins said. Wiggins also said that Sunni insurgents continue to target Iraqi leaders, but the "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq is making progress -- though, he added, "It's often not flashy." In the city of Ramadi, troops, he said, have found nearly as many arms caches in the first four months of this year than they did all of last year. But, he added, "there continues to be a rise in the number of high-profile vehicle IED and suicide attacks on soft targets," or Iraqi civilians. Wiggins did not comment on reports that the Army is looking into replacing almost one for one its humvees for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), which are far more effective in absorbing the impact of roadside bombs. --Anna Mulrine