Posted on 03/05/2011 1:42:51 PM PST by Dan.S.Defense
IED stands for Improvised Explosive Device. I knew them as "Roadside bombs" when I served in the IDF. Then as now, IEDs are cowardly yet effective terrorist tools. You often hear or read about IED in the news in the context of an attack against our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. Unfortunately, these attacks are often successful and inflict damage to men and equipment. People often don't understand what an IED is and why they are so effective. IEDs are typically low tech explosive bundles. They contain an explosive charge and, at times, they are enhanced with nails or shotgun type pellets, or just pieces of steel. An IED is typically quite small (for bombs) and only weigh a few tens of kilos (a construction cement bag is 50kg which is about 110lb), which makes them easy to transport and hide. Their small size is one of their main advantages. They cause damage by sending projectiles and unbelievable velocities, which can penetrate light armor, and a shock-wave that causes internal and head injuries. I have seem the damage they cause first hand and it's very bad.
(Excerpt) Read more at associatedcontent.com ...
No argument there. If it were up to me, we'd simply put up video surveillance just about everywhere. When an IED goes off, or is spotted/diffused... Backtrack the planters on the video, go to that house/building, and level it without warning. Make this SOP and pretty soon people will stop aiding and abetting. We have got to get out of the business of policing Iraq and Afghanistan. These are their Countries, let them take responsibility for them. If the radicals/terrorists take over and become a threat again - move in with a brief and violent military response, not a nation-building response.
I hear you loud and clear.
Tough to beat an enemy that can field a new class of weapons without a Congressional vote and panel of experts to vet the approach, and two years of training and CONOPS development.
And they’re nothing new. They’ve been used in guerrilla warfare for a long time.
Mr. Defense, blogger extraordinaire, has ridden the lightning. So sad.
Has anyone been keeping a list of all the blogpimps that have been zotted? I can’t remember them all. Let’s see...Just in the time I’ve been here there was Tumba, Mobile Vulgus, Brittany Punders, fromhardt, dan.s.defense.......Oh c’mon, I know I’m missing one or two.....*think* *Think*
There was one really obnoxious and prolific blogpimp back a couple of months ago over the Holidays, can’t recall his moniker (there are so many...) that was one copyright violation after another.
He was taking breaking AP Headline news stories, posting it at his site, then coming here and starting a thread using the AP Headline with an excerpt of their story and a link to his blog. The Admin Mods were deleting several of his threads a week before he was banned.
Sausageseller, jdawg2010, TwoOverHill
What? No pings? No Viking Kitties?
Oh well. I suppose it’s a compliment of sorts.
Blogpimp ZOTs are too boring. The kitties aren’t interested.
hey, maybe we could start a thread called "the blog pimp hall of shame" and and new names to it every time a pimp rides the lightning....
Your grandson is made of the best America has offered from its earliest days.
Not because he sustained permanent physical damage, but because even after so damaged he insisted on staying with his fellow warriors to finish the job. They often award medals for such conduct.
Politicians come on the scene, take the oath, live well on the taxpayer’s dime and unless their behavior becomes a public embarrassment - if then, they ultimately retire comfortably, again on our dime.
Men like your grandson come along, answer the call of their nation, take the oath, and too often pay a price for the rest of their lives.
I initially believed, on the basis of close observation, that our nation building efforts in Iraq was along the lines of rebuilding Japan and Germany after WWII, and thus entirely warranted.
Now, however, as superfries and ThunderSleeps suggests in #41 and #42, for the sake of men like your grandson, our national security interest policy ought to be that our military goes in, quickly and efficiently resolves the conflict, and then returns home. We have the technology to quickly return if needed, and we should leave any rebuilding to other Americans.
Your grandson has earned the right to always be proud of his service, but it is almost certain he would even be more satisfied if our efforts were less politically coreect and more efficient.
I believe you are correct. I'm a firm believer in KISS (keep it simple stupid). The military should have a very focused mission: warfare. When called upon, they should accomplish this mission with as much violence, speed, and decisiveness as possible. You don't want wars to drag on. You do want warfare to be as unpleasant and destructive as possible - so that people will bend over backwards to avoid it.
Nation building is a completely different mission and should not be the military's mission. In fact, nation building should not be our mission (as a Country) either. It is not our place to impose our will, our way of government, on anyone else - any more than I want them trying to impose their culture on us.
Thank you, and I agree. I will also save your post for him when he comes home in June. My son is also in Iraq. There is still a lot of violence in both places, but the MSM is low key about the truth. It makes Obama look bad. Every day, until Obama took office, they let us know how many of our soldiers died, and everything negative about the military. Now, they are just a blip. Even so, they have the backing of Americans, and they KNOW it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.