The Danger in Iraq; Comes Homemade

By Lillian Thomas  

 

The sophisticated weaponry and training of the U.S. military are sometimes no match for a soda can bomb detonated from a distance by a garage door opener. 

Homemade bombs in Iraq, known as IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, have reshaped aspects of warfare in Iraq, creating risk for troops every time they move from one place to another. A study done under the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority earlier this year concluded that IEDs were one of the major sources of injury and death of U.S. service personnel in Iraq. 

"All of the sudden, the ground in front of you erupts and all you see is shrapnel and cement and fire and smoke," said Sgt. Maj. Bob Metz, who helped draw up a a training protocol called "gun truck alley," which prepares soldiers for duty in convoys, the principal targets of IEDs. Metz is an Allegheny County homicide detective who was mobilized with the 99th Regional Readiness Command in Moon in January 2003. 

When a bomb explodes during a convoy, he said, the convoy commander has to react fast; in training, he expects the person in charge to formulate a plan within 30 seconds of the initial blast because quick action is crucial. 

IEDs are "the most common casualty producing weapon" in Iraq, said Metz, who served with the Army 75th Ranger Regiment and was a trainer at the Ranger school at Fort Benning, Ga. 

Each device is unique, but all contain a fuse, a detonator, explosive fill, a power supply for the detonator and a container. The jury-rigged explosive devices have been concealed in everything from ready-to-eat meal boxes to animal carcasses and can be detonated by cell phones, pagers and remote control toys. It could be a hand grenade with the pin pulled placed in a glass filled with mortar. It could be an old shell rigged with a fuse. 

The devices are growing increasingly sophisticated, Metz said. 

"This time last summer, it was not unusual to see piles of rocks by the side of the road" in Iraq, he said. "No force of nature piles rocks on a roadway, and since there was also usually a wire leading to it, it's not rocket science to figure out it's some kind of improvised device," often a 150-millimeter howitzer shell that turned the rocks into windshield smashing projectiles. 

"What the situation now is that they are digging underneath the berm. The road looks just like road you drove to work on." 

Those who plant bombs sometimes burn a tire to melt the pavement so that the device can be pushed directly into it, leaving no sign. Empty vehicles are increasingly used as containers. and IEDs are thrown from overhead passes or wrapped in plastic bags to look like roadside trash. Because they can be detonated remotely, convoys won't see any people hovering around to warn of possible problems. Sometimes, multiple explosives are rigged in a "daisy chain," wired together so that a single signal will detonate all of them. 

A photo on the GlobalSecurity.org Web site shows a disabled bus, which slowed down traffic so that a convoy wouldn't be able to move quickly through the area and would be a sitting duck for a series of linked bombs. The IEDs were discovered in that case. 

But the increasing craft of those who make and plant the bombs has turned them into formidable weapons. 

In July, 15 of 58 deaths of U.S. personnel in Iraq were directly attributed to IEDs. More came in attacks that started with the explosion of an IED. Other causes of death included "enemy action," air crashes, vehicle crashes, noncombat accidents and mortar fire. 

A Coalition Provisional Authority study of a 90-day period that ended in December found that U.S. forces in Iraq suffered 708 attacks involving IEDs, and 298 of those IED attacks caused 718 casualties, more than those injured by rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds combined. 

GlobalSecurity.org, a policy research organization based in Alexandria, Va., reported that 40 percent to 60 percent of all attacks on U.S. forces begin with an IED. 

Though IEDs are frequently used alone, they also are planted to temporarily stun and, if possible, stop a convoy so that it can be attacked. 

When a bomb explodes during a convoy, "people with the first name of Sergeant and sir get paid to discern" whether it's just an IED or if it's the prelude to an ambush, Metz said, adding that the commander of the convoy might have about "20 milliseconds" to make that determination. 

"It's the low-intensity-conflict weapon of choice," Metz said, largely because it's cheap and accessible. 

"If they had an anti-tank missile, they'd use that," he said. "IEDs are things that can be made on kitchen table. It's a little harder to make an anti-tank weapon in the kitchen." 

After more than two decades of warfare, Iraq is jam-packed with the raw materials and the expertise for bomb-making. 

Beginning with the Iran-Iraq war in 1983-1988 and continuing with the first Gulf war and the Iraqi military actions against the Kurdish population of the country, the country has been heavily mined, and its soldiers and its civilian population have gained experience in creating explosive booby traps. 

As of early 2003, it was estimated that there were more than 10 million mines in the ground in Iraq. The guts of a bomb are at nearly everyone's fingertips, and becuse the other components are everyday items -- batteries, nails, cell phones, electronic devices, wires -- there are few obstacles to building cheap, effective bombs. 

Master Sgt. Jack Gordon, of the U.S. Army Reserve Public Affairs Acquisition Team, who is based at the 99th Regional Readiness Command, was in Iraq earlier this summer. He wrote about his experience on a convoy during his time there. 

Before every mission, Gordon said, soldiers are assigned vehicle-based weapons positions and sectors of fire. "My sector was forward and to the left -- the nine to 12 o'clock quarter, protecting the driver," he wrote. 

They are briefed on the route and possible threats; they review signals (often a turn signal is used to indicate direction of fire, for example), escape routes and rally points. In the event of attack, the convoy is to keep moving if at all possible and regroup at a rally point before proceeding. 

During the trip, "I called out every bridge and overpass as we approached so [the turret gunner] would be aware of overhead threats -- explosive devices had been dropped from them before," he said. 

Convoys travel as fast as possible at all times. His was cruising at 50 mph when it hit congestion. 

"While we were stopped in traffic, we dismounted and established 360-degree security around the convoy. When dismounted in traffic, it is important to keep moving, even if slowly, to present a more difficult target for an ambush team or sniper. It is equally as important to not threaten the Iraqis who have, too, been stopped in the jam -- all weapons are pointed down, but the fingers on the safety and trigger must remain ready." 

It's important to be vigilant and to look vigilant, Metz said. "If you're looking like you're aware, scanning for danger, with an erect posture, you will be less of a target than if you are looking like a slipshod soldier." 

That's easier to say in a training class than to do on the roads of Iraq, he said. "You're sitting there in battle armor, in your compartment, going down the road at 50 mph in 120 degree heat -- it's very hard to remain hyper vigilant." 

But the risk of IEDs is only going to increase, he said. 

When the United States troops arrived last year, the Iraqis "were on their hind heels," Metz said. "Now the people who were running for their lives are coalescing. There is popular support [for resistance] more than it was when the war started. There are a lot of disenfranchised police, officers. The threat is more dangerous now than it was at the beginning of the war."