function addRequest(req) {
try {
    request = new XMLHttpRequest();
} catch (e) {
    try{
        request = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
    }catch(e){        
        try {
            request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHttp");
        } catch (e) {
            alert("XMLHttpRequest error: " + e);
        }
    }
}
request.open("GET", req, true);
request.send(null);
return request;

}

As you can see, it IE apparently fails all 3 ways in which I try to make the request. I've been doing plenty of searches to try and find what may be the issue, but by all accounts ive read, the code ive posted above should work.

i havent used jquery for AJAX, but ive seen it recommended when others have had issues with httprequest objects. could i just replace the mess above with a couple lines of jquery and assume that it will take care of IE's ugliness?

Thanks!