Washington, March 2, SPA -- The Pentagon is not trying hard enough to defeat the makeshift roadside bombs that are the leadingkiller of U.S. troops in Iraq, the commander of Americanforces in the Middle East said. Pentagon statistics show that over the past two months,the homemade, easy-to-hide weapons have accounted for asignificantly higher share of U.S. battle deaths. In thefinal 10 days of February, for example, roadside bombscaused at least 15 of the 22 battle deaths. In the first two months of this year, roadside bombsaccounted for 56 percent of all battle deaths. In the finalfour months of 2004 they accounted for 19 percent,according to Pentagon figures. Army Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. CentralCommand, told the Senate Armed Services Committee he wassatisfied that the right people, with sufficient funds,were working on the problem. "But I'm not satisfied that we have come up with thesolutions that we could if we really rolled up our sleevesand looked at it the way it needs to be looked at,"Abizaid said. On another subject, Abizaid said that about 3,500insurgents took part in election day violence in Iraq onJan. 30, an unusually precise estimate on the threat facingcoalition and Iraqi forces. Abizaid did not cite a source for that estimate. "It was the single most important day for the insurgentsto come out in force and to disrupt," he told thecommittee. "They threw their whole force at us, we think,and yet they were unable to disturb the elections becausepeople wanted to vote."--SPA1341 Local Time 1041 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/243620