Improvised Explosive Disaster

The Weekly Standard ^ | 05/04/2006 | Michael Goldfarb

[R. Scott]

Yep. “mines” are nasty – even though ours have a limited life span. “IEDs” are acceptable, because they aren’t those nasty evil “mines”.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

I saw that show. People nowadays think of the Germans of 1914-1918 as Huns only slightly less beastly than the Nazis, which is testimony to the effectiveness of British propaganda. So far as my research goes, the German soldier and sailor of WWI acquitted themselves pretty honorably, with a few regrettable lapses. Not much worse than the British, French and Italians, but they lost the war and the winners write the history books.

I was young and not paying attention, but I have vague memories of family stories about persecution of German-Swiss pacifist Mennonites. Having a German name made you a target in 1917.

[U S Army EOD]

While it is true IED's are causing us problems, the main problem is the media hype over this. In Vietnam, these were called booby traps. The term IED was coined in the early 70's for the term home made bomb we were getting from the radical left and peace groups during Vietnam. But these were going off here in the States.

They came from such organizations as SDS, Black Panthers, SLA, Baader-Mienhoff Gang, etc. Included in this group was the anti-American, terrorist group, known as VVAW or Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Leaders of this group was a deserter from the USNR, with the name of "Hanoi John" Kerry.

[Little Bill]

What ever happened to preconvoy sweeps, posting the road, and air overwatch? Worked for the most part in VN.

[archy]

The IED Manhattan Project is a joke, ripe with corruption.

Your example doesn't prove your point. I first met Ionatron about 30 minutes after they walked out of the DEP SEC DEF's office and 35 minutes after we got a call from same telling us we needed to look at their wonderful technology. We did. It sucked. We said so. So Ionatron turned to the press and to politicians who are more than happy to give them money for their bug zapper.

Any thoughts about the forthcoming *Joint services EOD vehicle*? Presumably they're going with a variant of the Force Protection Inc. 6x6 *Buffalo* MPCV

Oh yeah, EOD *redfenders* ping: Fireinthehole!

Army 2nd Lt. David Swisher, a platoon leader with the 612th Engineer Battalion, points out damage from an improvised-explosive-device detonation on the side of a “mine protective clearance vehicle,” or MPCV, which the soldiers call a Buffalo. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, center, and Army Col. Jim Brooks, commander of 3rd Infantry Division’s Maneuver-Enhancement Brigade, look on durng the secretary's April 12 visit to Iraq.
Photo by Kathleen T. Rhem

[U S Army EOD]

Sounds like they are going to have to reinvent the wheel again.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

DoD is helpless to do anything about the media hype. The media has Iraqi stringers like Bilal Hussein who have contacts with the bad guys and are tipped off so as to be nearby with a camera when an IED goes off.

[centurion316]

Buffalo is getting very high marks from troops in theater. They can't get enough of them. Production line is currently running at the max and every one is going directly into theater. Training centers and FORSCOM not happy - they want some to drive counter IED training at the CTC's.

That said - its a special purpose vehicle, used by Engineers for deliberate route clearance. Its too big for some mission sets, and is not a general purpose vehicle for maneuver units. It is close to being #1 on the Al Qaida target list- they don't like it so very much.

[centurion316]

Works for the most part in Iraq too, but there are some differences in the environment. My experience was that the White Mice and ARVN kept the cities and villes pretty secure, at least in the daytime. We were also able to clear the MSR's for 50 meters on each side of the road and keep that area plowed and raked. Can't do that in many areas of Iraq.

In spite of these advantages, we still had casualties from very large booby traps, usually 500/750 lb bombs. I suspect that the numbers were probably very similar to what we are seeing today. The difference is that our other casualties overshadowed the nuisance value of those rare attacks.

[U S Army EOD]

This is why the government needs to start a Radio Free America here in the States.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

We already have government radio. It's called NPR.