Hidden Bombs Biggest Fear of GIs in Iraq
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jan 30, 4:42 PM ET

The weapon that seriously wounded ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt is among the deadliest in the insurgents' arsenal — the dreaded roadside bombs, or improvised explosive devices.

Hidden in everything from garbage, to vehicles and even roadkill, the thunderous blasts from concealed explosives have become a hallmark of the Iraq war.

Suicide car bombers often grab the headlines with their mass casualty attacks, many against civilians. But it is the improvised explosive device, or IED, that soldiers fear the most.

More than one-third of the 62 deaths among U.S. forces in Iraq in January were due to IEDs, according to U.S. statements.

Since the war began in March 2003, IEDs have accounted for at least 894 of the 1,735 military deaths by hostile fire and more than 9,200 of the more than 16,500 wounded, according to Pentagon figures through Jan. 21.

According to iCasualties, a Web site that tracks coalition deaths in Iraq, at least 695 U.S. military personnel have been killed by IED attacks since the war started, making it the leading cause of death.

Powerful blasts send out shock waves that can kill or maim soldiers equipped with the best body armor — although flak vests and helmets were credited with saving the lives of Woodruff, 44, and Vogt, 46.

They were wounded Sunday while traveling in a convoy with U.S. troops from the 4th Infantry Division and an Iraqi unit near Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad. They underwent surgery at a military hospital in Iraq and then were flown to the Ramstein Air Base near Landstuhl, Germany, where they were reported in serious but stable condition.

Few details of the Sunday attack were available, but the pattern appeared all too familiar to the thousands of U.S. troops, security contractors, diplomats and journalists who run the risk of sudden and violent death every time they venture outside guarded compounds.

Since roadside bombs debuted here early in the conflict, insurgents have refined their techniques — not only for constructing the devices but concealing and detonating them to achieve maximum effect. U.S. soldiers have found IEDs buried in the soil, concealed in piles of garbage, stuffed in soft drink cans and even in the carcasses of dead animals by the side of the road.

In Anbar province, one of the main battlefields of the war, U.S. troops must carefully watch for pressure-triggered bombs, usually detonated by a small strip of wire or metal laid across roads frequently used by American convoys or patrols.

The bombs have altered U.S. and Iraqi tactics for patrolling. For example, in rural areas, some U.S. military advisers are urging Iraqi commanders to conduct more foot patrols off main roads instead of using vehicles to avoid triggering the bombs.

Insurgents have responded by laying bombs near likely foot paths.

American soldiers have become skilled at spotting the telltale signs — loose detonator wires, ground that has been disturbed. Troops have cleared out palm groves and underbrush which were favorite hiding places.

Insurgents then buried the bombs under gravel, sand and asphalt. Radio-detonators were used to trigger the blasts. So the Americans mounted jamming devices in their vehicles.

Undeterred, the insurgents have begun using a new type of device triggered when a vehicle crosses an infrared beam. The technology was first used in Lebanon and Northern Ireland, leading some intelligence officers to suspect that rogue groups in Iran or Lebanon are providing technical expertise to the insurgents.

The sophistication of the bombs themselves has improved steadily. In the early months of the conflict, many roadside bombs were little more than an artillery shell with a detonator cord linked to a battery.

In recent months, bombs have been found with a steel plate underneath to direct the force of the blast up into a passing vehicle. Another fires a solid steel penetrator that can pierce the armor on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle.



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IED is a misnomer for the current generation of mines being used in Iraq. There is nothing what so ever improvised about a professionally manufactured explosive device being delivered to the insurgents in Iraq by the Iranian government.