By Capt. Michael Cummings, U.S. Army
Best Defense deputy IED correspondent
If
Americans are still paying attention to Iraq -- and far and away most of them aren't -- they
know about the political deadlock that crippled the Iraqi government for seven
months. Or they know about the gigantic explosions that semi-regularly rip
through Baghdad.
But
in my opinion, that violence isn't the biggest threat to a democratic and
stable Iraq. Over the last two years, violence in Iraq has transformed from
attacks on American troops to attacks on political rivals. The weapon
characterizing this change is the "sticky bomb," or Magnetically
Attached IED (MAIED in Army-acronym-speak). Most Americans have never heard of
these killers, and probably never will. Yet this weapon will affect the future
of Iraq for years to come.
A
sticky bomb is a simple concept: take a few pounds of homemade explosives,
attach a heavy magnet, then attach a detonator. At night, an insurgent bikes or
runs by the target vehicle, then with a quick movement places the bomb
underneath it. Sticky bombs can be placed discreetly, easily and anonymously.
Unlike traditional IEDs, the sticky bomb only hurts the person inside the
vehicle. Whether by remote, timer, or movement sensor, when the target gets in
the vehicle, the bomb explodes.
If
the occupant is lucky, he dies; if he is unlucky, the bomb maims him, thrusting
him into the virtually non-existent Iraqi health care system.
Though
it has been in Iraq for years, the MAIED is becoming the tool of choice for
political killings. (If you know
your warfare, sticky bombs aren't anything new. For years the Irish Republican
Army used these devices to kill British soldiers, police and bureaucrats.)
Insurgents use sticky bombs on everybody in the Iraqi government, from the
traffic cops to the highest elected representatives. MAIEDs are easier and cheaper to assemble than a
full blown IED, and deliver a more precise result, while avoiding collateral
damage. Because they are easy to place, sticky bombs can go many places IEDs
can't, including Iraqi government parking lots.
The
expanded use of sticky bombs makes sense for the Iraqi insurgency. When
insurgents tried to blow up US soldiers, it required complex explosively-formed
penetrators (EFP) or gigantic IEDs to break through the heavy armor. To target
Iraqi vehicles, especially civilian cars, an insurgent only needs a few pounds
of properly placed C4 and a magnet.
Sticky
bombs have already killed over a hundred people this year. Probably twice that
many sticky bombs have been disarmed or prematurely detonated. Assassinations
keep the government services from functioning, keep the police from
investigating crimes, and keep Sunni insurgents in control of swaths of
Baghdad. The majority of attacks target Shia politicians, and are probably
placed by Sunni criminals, insurgents and terrorists -- a fact that continues to
hamper Sunni and Shia reconciliation.
The
Army needs to step up to the plate to stop this. While U.S. forces have a shrinking mission in Iraq, as long as
troops are on the ground we need to help Iraqis. American forces still care
primarily about stopping indirect fire attacks against their own bases, not
political violence threatening Iraq's long-term stability. Even worse, the
British have left from Iraq, and they had the institutional knowledge of how to
fight this weapon, including the use of simple devices that can tell if MAIEDs
are on vehicles.
Iraq
is much safer now than it was in 2007, especially for U.S. troops, but we aren't
out of the woods yet. If the use of sticky bombs tells us anything -- think
Northern Ireland -- then we still have quite a long way to go. A stable and
prosperous Iraq is in the United States and the Middle East's interest. We can't
give up, not while MAIEDs continue to wound, kill and maim men, women and
children in Iraq.
Captain Michael Cummings writes for www.onviolence.com, a blog on military and foreign affairs. He is an active duty
military officer who deployed to Afghanistan with the 173rd Airborne Brigade
and recently returned from a deployment to Iraq.
Read More
(8)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE