Homemade bombs are largest killer of coalition soldiers in Iraq

[UpInArms]

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/world/10020444.htm

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The innards of the Iraqi insurgency are piling up at Baghdad's bomb-squad headquarters: a tangle of gaffer's tape and electrical wire, 9-volt batteries and assorted kitchen timers, even a pink plastic alarm clock adorned with daisies.

They're the building blocks of what the military calls improvised explosive devices, the weapon of choice for Iraq's militants. The simple bombs have become the biggest killer of coalition soldiers and the unglamorous foundation of the insurgent effort to drive the U.S.-led coalition out of Iraq.

As the coalition IED death toll has mounted to more than 300, according to icasualties.org, a Web site that tracks military casualties, soldiers have come to consider the homemade bombs an apt symbol for the larger war in Iraq: a sneaky, primitive weapon that's tailor-made for a murky, elusive enemy.

"It's a different kind of war. It's reactionary. You can't shoot until something explodes, and then what do you shoot at? They're already gone," said Sgt. Chris McGuire, of the 21st Field Artillery Regiment.

<snip>

"One of the coalition's fatal mistakes was to allow the terrorists into army storerooms," he said, citing the postwar looting of ammunition depots across Iraq. "The terrorists took all the explosives they would ever need."

...more...

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Geez. Wonder what they are using?

Oh, anyone heard of an "Anthrax Killer"? There seems to be one that's gone missing.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Dammit! They keep repeating the same lie over and over again

>>>One of the coalition's fatal mistakes was to allow the terrorists into army storerooms," he said, citing the postwar looting of ammunition depots across Iraq. "The terrorists took all the explosives they would ever need."<<<

Rumsfeld himself on live TV swore to me that CNN was just showing over and over again videotape of the same vase being looted. There wasn't no real looting going on to speak of in Iraq. We had plenty of troops on the ground to prevent that from happening. Just ask Rummy. He will tell you. It was all blown out of proportion by the damn liberal media. Good old Rummy wouldn't lie to us. Would he?

Don

[vademocrat]

3. But don't blame the administration - no, no not their fault!!!

/sarcasm off

This story is making my head spin - I can't wrap my brain around 760,000 POUNDS of explosives - which if the tv shows & movies I've watched are correct, can be rigged up just as the article describes.

This would be funny if it were the keystone kops but real people are dying every day & our higher priority was the Iraqi Oil Ministry??? :wtf:

Saw a car today with "support our troops" & a */chainsaw 04 bumperstickets at a red light today. I wanted to grab him out of the car and scream "It's NOT JUST A BUMPERSTICKER, dammit!!!"

I want a president and an administration who actually will support our troops and our citizens and our bill of rights --

AARRGGHH!!! 760,000 pounds... :nuke:

thanks for letting me rant & blow off steam...



GOTV=Kerry Landslide

[saigon68]

4. ITS IRAQ-NAM

IRAQ-NAM, is a ruthless, vicious place that asks No Quarter and Gives None.

It is ruled by Viceroy Negroponte appointed by Cheney Caesar, in the year of Our Lord
Two Thousand Four A. D.

Death here rides a Pale Horse.

Death claims in no particular order, the Innocent, the Guilty, the Unlucky and the Careless.

[struggle4progress]

5. When you want to say "smouldering wreckage," just say "George."