FY 05-10
Contacts: Andrew L. Lluberes/Sheree L. Mixell
202-927-8500


For Immediate Release
www.atf.gov
March 16, 2005
 

ATF TO PROVIDE EXPLOSIVES EXPERTISE TO MILITARY IN IRAQ
Effort to Be Part of Campaign Against Deadly Bombers

WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced today that it has signed a memorandum of agreement to help the multinational forces fighting in Iraq counter the threat of deadly bomb attacks.

The agreement, signed March 5 by ATF Director Carl J. Truscott and U.S. Army Brig Gen. John Defreitas, will bring ATF's well-established expertise in explosives investigations to bear in the deadly insurgency being waged against multinational forces in Iraq. ATF was the agency that discovered the critical piece of evidence in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and was instrumental in the investigation of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

The agreement provides for ATF personnel to serve within the Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell (CEXC) in Iraq with military and other law enforcement agencies from the United States and Britain. CEXC's role is to provide immediate, in-theater technical and operational analysis of the improvised explosives devices (IEDs) that insurgents have used to such effect against multinational forces, and develop measures to counter the insurgent bombing campaign.

ATF special agents who are also certified explosives specialists have been deployed to Iraq since 2003, offering explosives training to the Iraqi Police Service; assisting the Regime Crimes Liaison Office, a multi-agency task force preparing the war crimes tribunals against leaders of the ousted Sadaam Hussein regime; and as handlers of explosives detection canine teams.

"This agreement formalizes our assistance and gives ATF the opportunity to help the multinational forces deal with a threat that we know a great deal about," Truscott said. "ATF's mission is to prevent terrorism, reduce violent crime and protect the public. We're proud and honored to be able to join the multinational forces in doing that in Iraq."

Under the agreement, ATF personnel will:

  • Attend, investigate and report on all significant explosives incidents as directed by CEXC.
  • Carry out first-line exploitation of new devices and support their packaging and dispatch to laboratories in the United States and Britain for full technical evaluation.
  • Provide exploitation reports on incidents involving explosives devices.
  • Provide advice on explosives ordnance disposal and force protection and combat tactics in regard to the threat posed by improvised explosives devices.
  • Assist in the interviewing of suspected bomb makers taken into custody as directed by CEXC.
  • Assist multinational force troops in planning search operations of suspected bomb factories, hideouts or bomb makers' houses as directed by CEXC.
  • Support the information flow to military and intelligence components that require it.
  • Participate in technical analysis and CEXC report writing.
  • Forward authorized CEXC reports and information for further processing and dissemination to U.S. law enforcement agencies. This feature will allow ATF, which has responsibility for collecting and maintaining all Department of Justice databases on arson and explosives incidents, to share the information it has obtained in Iraq with its state, local and other federal law enforcement partners.

The ATF personnel will serve under the operational control of the multinational forces, but will not conduct operations to render explosives safe or participate in search or raid operations.

More information on ATF and its programs is at www.atf.gov.

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