Report Faults Military Technology in Iraq War

You would think that above all else the technology used by the US forces would have been up to par...

Front-line U.S. troops often lacked access to surveillance and intelligence data during the invasion of Iraq because of computer glitches, Technology Review magazine reported on Tuesday, citing a classified report by Rand Corp.
One battalion commander told the magazine he had almost no information on the strength and position of Iraqi forces after his division took control of a key bridge south of Baghdad on April 2, 2003

Marcone's experience was typical, according to a largely classified report being prepared for the Pentagon by the Rand Corp, which concludes that front-line commanders often did not benefit from cutting-edge technologies. These were aimed at moving toward a smaller, smarter fighting force connected by advanced communications systems.

The problems preventing effective relaying of crucial data included lengthy download times, software failures and lack of access to high-bandwidth communications.


Rest of story:

www.reuters.com...