Roadside Bombs Redefine Iraqi War, Bedevil US

$10B hasn't produced countermeasures to easy-to-make IEDs

By Jane Yager, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 30, 2007 7:49 AM CDT

(Newser) – Simple, cheap and lethal roadside bombs have become the defining weapon of the Iraq war, confounding the Pentagon and taking a devastating toll on US troops, the Washington Post reports in a history and analysis of our tk Iraq. The devices, which account for nearly two-thirds of US combat deaths, are nearly impossible to wipe out because they're easily made from consumer electronics and delivered by shadowy social and financial networks.

War planners gave little thought to the IED as a serious weapon, the Post says, but since 1983, more than 81,000 attacks have killed or wounded 21,000 Americans. The US has spent nearly $10 billion on countermeasures, from troop armor to electronic jammers to hunting dogs, but the IED remains "the single most effective weapon against our deployed forces," the Pentagon says.

Iraqi police officers defuse an explosive device they found along a road in Basra, Iraq, in this Nov. 18 2004 file photo. The daily number of IED attacks has increased six-fold since 2003, the Pentagon... (Associated Press)

U.S. soldiers of B Company, 4th Infantry Regiment run for cover after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off near Daychopan village in Zabul province, southeastern Afghanistan,Thursday, April 5,... (Associated Press)

An young Iraqi boy leaps over a crater in the road created after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded in eastern Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007. The IED injured two people. (AP Photo/Hadi... (Associated Press)

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Roadside Bombs Redefine Iraqi War, Bedevil US

$10B hasn't produced countermeasures to easy-to-make IEDs

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Al-Qaeda Steals Blood From Iraq Hospitals

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Roadside Bombs Redefine Iraqi War, Bedevil US

$10B hasn't produced countermeasures to easy-to-make IEDs

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

insurgents • IED • Iraq war

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

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More Newser Stories

Al-Qaeda Steals Blood From Iraq Hospitals

Terror group uses fluid to treat its own wounded soldiers

Iraqi Insurgent: We Won't Stop Til US Leaves

Numbers dwindle, but 'I feel happy' when killing Americans

21 Killed in Iraq Car Bombings

25 wounded in Baghdad square blast

Pentagon Kept Humvees Despite Known IED Threat

Officials delayed switch to safer vehicles: report

US: Do We Dare Turn Detainees Over to Iraqis?

Security deal could see Iraqi authorities handed thousands of prisoners they can't handle

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