Iraq sticky bomb attacks
Iraqi insurgents are increasingly using magnetically attached bombs known as "sticky IEDs" to assassinate mid- and low-level Iraqi officials, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.One reason they are using this type of weapon system is that we have been so effective at stopping the planting of IEDs. Our use of UAVs and other intelligence gathering has made the planting of IEDs very dangerous.Rigged with magnets so they will adhere to the undersides of automobiles and detonated by remote control or with timers, the bombs have been used in Iraq sporadically since 2004. This year, U.S. military officials said, they have investigated roughly 200 cases involving magnetic bombs, and Iraqi officials said they have noted an increase in assassination attempts in which attackers use guns equipped with silencers.
The magnetic bombs "are very dangerous and very difficult to discover," said Brig. Gen. Ali Abdul Ameer, a police commander in Baghdad. "It's stuck on in one place, and it blows up in another place."
These assassination attempts mark a shift from mass-casualty attacks that triggered a backlash against insurgent groups and militias, U.S. military officials said, and come as the Iraqi government is asserting more control over security matters in the country and as the United States starts to reduce troop levels.
The bombs have been used against Iraqi government officials, particularly those who work in the army and police. Local leaders, judges, journalists and members of U.S.-backed Sunni armed groups have also been attacked.
U.S. and Iraqi officials did not release comparative data on the use of magnetic bombs in recent years. But Iraqi officials say the increased use of the weapons led them this year to warn all government employees to inspect their vehicles each morning and to avoid leaving cars unattended in unsecured areas.
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Although U.S. military officials said magnetic bombs have not been placed under their vehicles, many American officials have begun to inspect their cars, even inside the heavily protected Green Zone.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said "most of the attacks are against MOI officials, because this ministry started to become professional and we are targeting all kinds of outlaws." He said insurgents occasionally use glue to stick bombs to vehicles.
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These smaller bombs can be attached while a car is at a traffic stop which means inspections are not enough. The Iraqis need to concentrate on the bomb builders to stop this threat.
if i knew who to talk to (an expression), or they asked me (they wont, i am not delusional, its just gedanken), i would say they should try to fly over one of the planes that they use to locate subs.
ReplyDelete"Magnetic Anomaly Detectors (MAD) to sense small changes in the Earth's magnetic field caused by the passage of a submarine."
took me a minute to find it.
it shouldnt be too hard to find them using such devices... though i dont know if you can coordinate the information with a map easily and then allow a plant to sweep a huge area... they might have to be happy with a helicopter flying ahead of the route.
also a decent electronics guy should be able to whip up a T bar that extends past a bumper and has a magnetometers (rotating coil type i would guess wuld be easiest and fastest).
i would also say that a person walking the road, with a compass in hand may see it move oddly as they pass near it.
thats what i would work on first off the top of my head. anyone else have something to add to the list?