Posted on 06/07/2016 9:24:41 AM PDT by Elderberry
Islamic State militants have not only stolen a majority of the military Humvees provided to the Iraq Security Forces (ISF) by the U.S., they are now re-purposing them into car bombs.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi confirmed that 2,300 are in ISIS hands, more than 2/3 of all Humvees provided to Iraq by the U.S. Most were stolen after the terrorist group captured the Iraqi city of Mosul in June 2014.
While the vehicles were designed as a fast means to carry U.S. personnel and their supplies into battle, it turns out they are even better suited to be used as car bombs, or vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs).
“There’s a simple reason the militants are using Humvees and other armored vehicles as rolling bombs,” reported Foreign Policy’s Sean Naylor Saturday. “Their protective armored plating prevents defenders from killing the trucks’ drivers before the militants can detonate their loads, while the vehicles’ capacity to carry enormous amounts of weight means the Islamic State can sometimes pack in a ton of explosives.”
ISIS has used the Humvee car bomb as a mainstay in its military tactics, sending waves of them at key enemy locations prior to assaulting the position with ground fighters. The weapons are so devastating that some of them carry explosive power comparable to the device used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
Unfortunately, ISF personnel and the Kurdish Peshmerga are often unprepared to counter the Humvee bomb threat, given that they sometimes like the anti-tank weaponry required to neutralize the vehicles. The U.S. outfitted the Peshmerga with 1,000 AT-4 anti-tank launchers last year, and plans to send 2,000 to the ISF. Germany has provided the Peshmerga with the Milan guided missile, which has also been proven effective against the Humvee bombs. The weapon has been so popular, one Kurdish family even named their child after the weapon.
Oy. And I bet the US will continue to supply the Humvees, too... :-(
ISIS is U.S..
i bet Obama will be shocked to hear about this when he reads it in the paper.
Tragic that the US created Iraq geopolitical humanitarian mess in the first place and current ISIS monsters.
Ironic that ISIS, our CIA creation, would use our US HumVees, to wreck even more havoc in the region after we retreated from Iraq.
What a awful clusterf.
Bush 1 warned that ousting Sadam would create a terrible power vaccumn.
Jefferson warned us to: “avoid foreign entanglements”
We never learn from history.
RE: Oy. And I bet the US will continue to supply the Humvees, too.
Tragic that the US created Iraq geopolitical humanitarian mess in the first place and current ISIS monsters.
Ironic that ISIS, our CIA creation, would use our US HumVees, to wreck even more havoc in the region after we retreated from Iraq.
What a awful clusterf.
Bush 1 warned that ousting Sadam would create a terrible power vaccumn.
Jefferson warned us to: “avoid foreign entanglements”
We never learn from history.
RE: Oy. And I bet the US will continue to supply the Humvees, too.
Shouldn't that be "Most were turned over..."
I wouldn’t think they would be the best vehicle for this purpose because they wouldn’t fragment. A tank would be a poor choice as well.
Prolly blow up real good - lots of nice metal there not so much plastic.
Kerry trade deal idiocy.
All with Obama’s blessing.
The whole thing is fubar isn’t it?
The Humvee is not armored.
The aluminum body reduces weight and provides resistance to corrosion. Aluminum body panels are riveted and bonded together with technologically-advanced adhesives to provide additional strength. The body is designed to flex to accommodate off-road stresses.
This is going well.
Maybe we’ll buy them back so they can transfer a little moola to the Democrat Party.
The main reason they use hummers is that they are a maintenance nightmare, they can’t fix them.
Nonsense
Blow up all the HumVs?
I am betting that ISIS is the military wing of the Bildenberg Group.
I still wouldn't mind getting my hands on one.
The Govt was selling them surplus, but specifying off-road only.
Now I see that you can title them for use on the road.
It Just Got A Lot Easier To Own A Surplus Military Hummer
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/it-just-got-a-lot-easier-to-own-a-surplus-military-humm-1713440543
I was thinking they were up armored to deal with mines.
Really makes you wonder where Uncle Sam has his head buried.
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