One more lesson learned we've published over at DID: don't forget to stop by your local Radio Shack before deploying.

Load up on a spare set of appropriate batteries, too, so those radio-controlled cars don't run out of juice at an inopportune time.

Brilliant. Thanks Trent.

The reduced road safety of the up-armored Humvees had already been predicted...

Also the considerations on the false sense of security given by armor are interesting.

But I doubt those who were howling about the lack of armored vehicles will ever consider these facts.

An interesting addendum to your excellent post is in the NY Times today: Iraqi Insurgents Refining Bombs G.I. Deaths Rise (registration required). Apparently terrorists are turning to more sophisticated IEDs which include shaped charges and detonation through infrared lasers. This has resulted in the highest level of mortalities due to IEDs among U.S. troops since the war began. I don't think you can learn this stuff from a book so clearly some persons with real expertise are involved. The article suggests foreign agents (Syrian agents? FARC or PIRA as your post might suggest? they don't say) or former Iraqi rocket scientists might provide the training. But how does this get disseminated to the guy who lays and detonates the bomb? This requires leadership and a network and we know there have been numerous arrests of mid- to top-level terrorists. Either these arrests have not been enough to disrupt the net, or its relatively easily to repair, or maybe (and this is where I am wildly speculating) there are other services moving in and taking over command and control, say a group like Syrian intelligence or other interested party with a nation-affiliation.

FabioC.,

There are efforts underway by the Army to upgrade the suspension of the up armored Hummvees to restore mobility and reduce their tendency to roll over. There will be kits for existing trucks and a new suspension for new production vehicles.

I know of it through my father who has been approached by the contractor that has developed the suspension kits to run his production facility in Dallas, Texas.

Trent,

Those upgrades were in the works together with armor kits, IIRC.

It was the Bush critics that made up-armoring Humvees seem like a job that can be done in a few hours with an arc welder and steel plates, but the military did not do it because Bush and Rumsfeld and evil and stupid.

But how does this get disseminated to the guy who lays and detonates the bomb? This requires leadership and a network and we know there have been numerous arrests of mid- to top-level terrorists. Either these arrests have not been enough to disrupt the net, or its relatively easily to repair, or maybe (and this is where I am wildly speculating) there are other services moving in and taking over command and control, say a group like Syrian intelligence or other interested party with a nation-affiliation.

Peter,

We are in a regional war in Iraq, not just an "occupation campaign." Iraq will not be secure until we also change the regimes in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia. This is a series of facts that the Bush Administration has not communicated to the American public because they are "Big Government Republicans" who do not view the American people as a seperate player, independent of the Washington DC political factions, who needs to be brought into the war.

We are facing in Iraq the whole of the 1st string Islamist threat to including the intelligence services or significant factions of the intelligence services of the old Iraqi Ba'athist regime, Iran, Syria, the Palestinian Authority, and Saudi Arabia.

Personally, I also think these people have bought or obtained favors from the national intelligence agencies of nations like Russia and China who are watching our military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In short, our enemies cooperate and use modern communications like the internet to speed horizontal communications on what works and what does not to kill our troops.

It is a testimate to our troops that we are driving the change cycle, or OODA loop, past our own arthritic vertical communications in places like our military procurement system so quickly that we are grinding the terrorist bastards down in Iraq.

FabioC.,

The efforts to upgrade Humvee suspension did not start until troops started dying the in the field and commanders screamed for new suspensions.

That is the way the military procurement system works.

With the IEDs hurting our boys, when are we going to create some STARTSHIP TROOPERS? Seriously, we have (or could soon have) the technology for Powered Armor to protect individual solders against IEDs...can we get the will? In today's world a soldier's life is worth more than a tank or ship.

See here for more on Power Armor:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_armor

Question for peterargus;
How does a qualified newspaper get this kind of information from a war zone? Why do they publish this information, if not to demoralize the public and the opinion of the war?

Great article by Trent. Kind 'o wish I were back in boots in his convoy!

Speaking of the international nature of our war in Iraq, this is over on the Captain's Quater's Blog:

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/004782.php

Snort Cocaine And Fund More Bombings

The BBC reports that Ecuador has broken up a drug ring that explicitly existed to fund terrorist operations for Iranian-backed and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. The ring specialized in providing cocaine for users in South America, the Middle East, and Europe:

Police in Ecuador say they have broken up an international drugs ring which was raising money for the Islamic militant group, Hezbollah.
The authorities have declined to give details of the gang's alleged links with the group, but say it was sending Hezbollah up to 70% of its profits.

(snip>)

How come taking aspirin does not fund our enemies?

Prohibition is a price support mechanism for criminals.

Any one here remember alcohol prohibitiion? Any one at all?

It is not the drugs, it is the prohibition, stupid.

It is amazing that such otherwise intelligent folks can veer off into such errant non-sense.

Prohibition in economic terms is rent seeking.
1. For criminals
2. for "ethical" drug companies who would rather not compete with plants that you can grow at home.
3. ditto alcohol companies
4. ditto tobacco companies

And that is just the supplier end

There are judges, lawyers, prison guards etc. etc. etc.

McCouchey:

How does a qualified newspaper get this kind of information from a war zone? Why do they publish this information, if not to demoralize the public and the opinion of the war?

The sources appear to be named military officials including “Col. Bob Davis, an Army explosives expert,” …”Gen. John Vines, a senior American ground commander in Iraq,” … and the usual unnamed senior military and Pentagon officials. This seems like decent sourcing and if the military is providing the information I can’t see the problem with NYT reporting it. Significantly they would not provide the journalist with specific information about how often such sophisticated bombs are employed, who is involved, or where bombs have been detonated.

Trent:
We are in a regional war in Iraq, not just an "occupation campaign." Iraq will not be secure until we also change the regimes in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Precisely and this IED campaign should be interpreted from that light. What if the coalition efforts have been successful enough in Iraq to make it impossible to use as an effective training ground for IED deployment and use? If that is the case one could imagine a greater reliance by the terrorists on developing capabilities in neighboring countries (read Syria) and then sneaking across the border for deployment. The more they use Syria as a training sanctuary the more likely they are to come into contact/control of government agents bent on preventing regime change throughout the ME.
This reminds me of two parallels from Vietnam (sorry I try to avoid this comparison but it really is useful sometimes). First after Tet the VC are widely considered to have been destroyed as an effective insurgency. This resulted in the North Vietnamization of the opposition to South Vietnam and the US. Second NV used Cambodia and Laos as sanctuaries from which to resupply and launch attacks. So I am going to speculate wildly and predict that the insurgency is going to become more and more dominated by foreigners based in presumed sanctuaries outside of Iraq. We should see an escalation of diplomatic pressure on Syria and possibly cross-border raids by coalition forces.

In other words our government is fighting the terrorists at the same time it is supporting them.

Wouldn't unity of purpose be a good idea?

Time to end the Government Cocaine Price Support and Gang and Terrorist Finance Program?

I'm just askin'.

I agree with M Simon. Legalising all drugs and providing free medical treatment for addiction would cut the ground from under the feet of most of these killers.

It would also save a vast amount of money in law enforcement costs.

Even legalising just cannabis would reduce their income considerably.

"Never assume anyone with a camera is friendly - this does NOT mean they are enemy and can be shot"

The guys with cameras are the enemy. even if they are Americans working for CBS, (strike that, especially if they are Americans working for CBS).

Its time to change the rules of engagement. Cameras are the same as guns. Anyone carrying one in Iraq should be treated as an enemy.

Excellent article. I have forwarded this to my husband (a Marine, currently Stateside) and am "motomailing" it to my cousin, a Marine currently playing in the Sandbox. I hope he already has this information, but if not he and his Marines can ABSOLUTELY use this. Definitely something to 'laminate and stick in your butt-pack.'

concerning an IED Jammer and how IED Jammers reduce the threat of getting ambushed in IRAQ, i am in agreement that many IED attacks are now involving an RCIED or improvised explosive device. the statement about who the enemy is from "Lessons Learned: IEDs in Iraq" was interesting in that it mentioned that a 'far ambush' in which the enemy can initiate an IED "from a distance" and that's something that people here (stateside) don't really understand.

that the enemy takes electronics like radio shack remote controlled car kits and makes an RCIED out of them is insane, yet true.

it was also good to read the comment on solutions (cause sometimes only people complain and don't include solutions to the their problems) that using an ECM is "highly effective" to combat the dangers of attack by RCIED.

i noted the webpage of the trunk mounted Bomb Jammer cause it is actually an IED Jammer and it applies when writing about ECM and combating an IED threat that uses RF to detonate. of course, the site i got it from http://www.bombjammer.com has other ied jammers, not just the kind that big shots use in a beamer or a benz. their ECM fits on an suv and i think it also had a humvee too.

Although the number of bombs using the refinements remains low, their appearance underscores the insurgents' adaptability and the difficulty the Pentagon faces, despite a strong effort, in containing the threat. Improvised explosives now account for about 70 percent of American casualties in Iraq.