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| "Left of Boom: The Struggle to Defeat the Roadside Bomb." |
| 2007-10-07 |
| From Badger6 at Badgers Forward I have read "journalism is the first draft of history." As far as this war has gone I would tend to disagree with that, if anything has been the first draft of history it has been the Milblogs. (Yes, I understand that on a Milblog that probably sounds self-serving.) The Washington Post though has proved an exception to that rule with the series "Left of Boom: The Struggle to Defeat the Roadside Bomb." Written by Rick Atkinson author of the Liberation Trilogy, he does an excellent job of charting the history of the roadside bomb and our efforts to combat it. We worked at just Left of Boom or at Boom. These reports are mostly about the effort above the tacticall level; addressing the strategic and operational problems to help us address them on a tactical level. These reports explain the origin of many of the practices and systems we saw. Much of it makes much more sense now. This is top notch reporting and a true first draft of history. I highly recommend it to you. His post provides links to the four part series at the WaPo. |
| Posted by:Chuck |
| #10 #1 Two words for you visitor: Orde Wingate. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-10-07 17:16 |
| #9 Suicide attacks were approaching three each week, according to State Department and United Nations figures, from three in all of 2004 and 17 in 2005. Often recruited in Pakistani madrassas and frequently driving a Toyota Corolla painted to look like a taxi, the typical bomber was male, 15 to 35 years old, "clean-shaven . . . nervous, restless, eyes fixed, glazed, avoids eye contact," according to a U.S. military description. Hair samples from dead bombers showed that many were drugged with sedatives. The Spider Mod 1 radio-controlled bomb trigger first seen in 2002 continued to appear, but evolutions had reached the Spider Mod 5. Those, too, came from Pakistan, U.S. intelligence believed, often with the radio frequency and firing code written on the case by the bombmaker for the emplacer's benefit. The Acorn jammer initially sent to Afghanistan in 2002 still worked against the Spiders, but additional jammers would be needed against other devices detonated by radio waves. Turning on the lights and killing the roaches in the middle of the kitchen floor won't eradicate them. You need to get them where they breed.. behind the baseboard, in the crevices. As long as the Saudi financiers and the ISI trainers live, the problem will persist. There is a never ending supply of jihadis. The head has to be cut off. |
| Posted by: john frum 2007-10-07 12:02 |
| #8 "It worries me a lot that we are not, as a nation, taking these larger issues seriously." - lotp That's because we're more focused on Ms. Spears' latest drunken escapade, Global Warming, extending healthcare coverage to families with incomes 300% above the established poverty rate, and whether Sen. Obama should wear a flag lapel pin. Unfortunately, our "awareness" level historically rises with the degree and severity of the "wake-up" call. Example, Pearl Harbor shook the isolationist strain out of most Americans' system - John T. Flynn and similar kooks excepted - and 9-11 disabused us of the notion that terrorism could be fought solely as a law enforcement issue. Probably sometime around 2020, we will lose a city. Whether it is to Islamo-Fascists or some as yet unforeseen "anti-Globalization" nihilist group is largely academic. The bottom line is that the integration of advanced science, technological developments, and modern weaponry now makes it possible for micro-malcontents to inflict macro-destruction. Seems that every event in one area now impacts tne entire world, often a generation down the line. Not sure there's any effective way to confront this other than the present course which is an old one: If we want peace, we had better be prepared for war. |
| Posted by: Sigmund Freud 2007-10-07 11:29 |
| #7 It's the erosion of a 400 year old system of national governments as the focus of economic, political and military activity. As the comments in the discussion of the pearls of wisdom from the Archdruid of Canterbury show it is also the erosion of a 400 year old system of religious schism whose tensions have actually proven profitable while it lasted. When I was young I often wondered how the Greeks could have let such a great culture die. And now I know. Worst of all, it's my fault. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-10-07 08:20 |
| #6 What is really needed, of course, is for the American public to understand the broader challenges and threats we face and to show resolve to defeat them. But what we face is complex and ambiguous. It is IMO a lot more than insurgents/jihadis in Iraq. It's more than Islamicism as a whole. It's the erosion of a 400 year old system of national governments as the focus of economic, political and military activity. We can't deal with that underlying challenge all at once, not least because it isn't one concrete thing or enemy. So we deal with Saddam and Afghanistan, which inevitably sends out waves of consequences in Europe and Latin America, which ties into the issue of immigration and border control, which is linked to economic issues posed by technologies which make every economy globalized whether we like it or not .... It worries me a lot that we are not, as a nation, taking these larger issues seriously. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-10-07 08:05 |
| #5 Besoeker, I wasn't arguing about the need. Apologies if it sounded that way. I was appalled when we pulled out of Fallujah the first time and the consequences of that proved about as bad as I feared, emboldening attacks and allowing the insurgents and jihadis to ramp up deadly activities against us and against Iraqi civilians. I do doubt, however, that the Roman strategy was ever feasible for us. It would have brought the Bush administration down overnight I think. So we're slogging the incremental way and it is painful. We don't have any 19 yr olds buried where I work, but there are some 22-24 yr olds freshly laid to rest with honor and our gratitude. I knew one or two of them personally. Network analysis and in particular the data mining efforts that JIEDDO has sponsored is just starting to get fielded IIUC. They aren't a panacea but as I said, I think we'll be refining these for use in many more places than Mesopotamia before this long war is over. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-10-07 07:58 |
| #4 Not to be argumentative Lotp, but how many 19 year olds must we lose while the "network analysis" and cyber warfare geeks develop solutions? Solutions by the way, that are countered by cyber geeks in Russia, China, Syria, and Iran. In my opinion....."net analysis" of the IED/VBIED threat is something akin to the "Network analysis" of pickpockets in Rome. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-07 07:49 |
| #3 Unfortunately, counterIED capabilities may in the future be necessary in places where we don't want to raze towns and villages. Like within the US, as a result of a growing alignment of convenience between Islamicists, leftist guerilla movements, drug rings and the more organized transnational gangs like MS-13. Approaches to data mining, social network analysis, signals management and embedded electronics which have been/are being developed for IED detection and defeat in Iraq will see service elsewhere as well. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-10-07 07:42 |
| #2 Perspective, perspective, perspective. I posted part 1 last Sunday as a typical WaPo hit piece. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-10-07 07:15 |
| #1 Sadly, a self-inflicted "struggle." If our troops are fired upon or IED'd while going through a village or neighborhood, the military (not US State or CIA) should immediately confer withe local elder or mayor over tea. The conversation should go something like this: Mr. (mayor, tribal elder, shiek, etc), we have recently noted a terrible increase in (IED, VBIED, Snipers, drive-by shootings, etc) as our troops transit your district. These attacks costs valuable American lives and inhibit our ability to bring peace, stability, and representative democracy to your (neighborhood, village, city, etc). We would ask that YOU see to it that these attacks are stopped within 24 hours. We do not care how you accomplish this task. If you fail, or the attacks resume at anytime in the future, we will immediately erase your (neighborhood, village, city, people, animals and you Sir) from the pages of Iraqi history for ever. Sir, our USAF Ground Liaision Officer (GLO) will now play for you a short, action packed, kinetic effects video on his laptop of precisely what we plan to do if you fail in your efforts....... Did you enjoy the video Sir, Excellent! Do you fully understand or intent Sir? Excellent! Please remember, you and I and our GLO will never meet like this again. Now, go forward and do good! After the first or second village, town or neighborhood was vaporized, this IED/VBIED would come to a screaching halt. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-07 07:14 |