Pressure Cooker IEDs?

Boston Marathon Bombs Were Pressure Cooker IEDs Packed With Ball-Bearings: Devices That Killed Three, Including Eight-Year-Old Boy Waiting For His Runner Dad Are Used By Terrorists In Afghanistan -- Daily Mail

* Pressure-cooker bombs were packed with shards of metal, nails and ball bearings
* Devices are frequently used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to Homeland Security
* An al-Qaeda magazine last year listed U.S. sporting events as one of 'the most important enemy targets'
* An eight-year-old boy and a 29-year-old woman were among the three killed in the attack
* 176 people injured, at least 17 of them in critical condition and 'a lot' of amputations have been performed
* Surgeons describe numerous severe injuries from 'pellets, shrapnel or nails from inside the bombs'
* Investigators do not know of motive for the bombs or who is behind them but are questioning 'many people'
* Obama vows to bring bombers to justice: 'The American people will not be terrorized'

The two bombs that killed three people and injured at least 176 at the Boston Marathon on Monday were made from six-liter pressure cookers crammed with shards of metal, nails and ball bearings and stashed in black backpacks, police sources revealed today.

The cruelly-designed bombs have 'frequently' been used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to a 2010 Homeland Security Department pamphlet - hinting at the origins of the bombers behind the worst terrorist atrocity in the U.S. since 9/11.

When the devices exploded near the crowded Boston Marathon finish line around 2.50pm on Monday, victims suffered as many as 40 shrapnel wounds each and at least 10 people needed amputations. Witnesses described seeing body parts flying through the air and shoes that 'still had flesh in them'.

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More News On Pressure Cooker IEDs

Pressure cooker bombs used in past by militants -- Houston Chronicle/AP
Homeland Security warned about pressure cooker bombs -- CBS News
Homeland Security Warned In 2010 Of Pressure Cooker Bombs Like Those In Boston Marathon Explosions -- Fast Company
Pressure cooker bombs: Backpacks concealed bombs filled with shrapnel -- Examiner
Homeland Security: Pressure-cooker bombs easy to make, often used by terrorists -- WBTV
Pressure Cookers, Nails, BBs, and Bags: What We Know About the Boston Bombs -- The Atlantic
Boston Marathon bombs made with pressure cookers: Big break in case? -- Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor

My Comment: After following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past few years .... I know too well on how effective these IEDs can be. The fact that people are now willing to use them at public events in the U.S. .... certainly does not bode well for the future.

There Has Been 172 ‘IED’ Incidents In The U.S. In The Last 6 Months

Explosion at Boston Marathon (Reuters)

Bombs Frequent In U.S.; 172 ‘IED’ Incidents In Last 6 Months, By 1 Count -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — The two explosions that killed three people and wounded more than 170 Monday in Boston were dramatic, the deadliest bombing in the United States since April 19, 1995, when a truck loaded with fertilizer blew up outside the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168. But the method of attack wasn’t particularly surprising to anti-terrorism experts: a homemade bomb that officials refer to as an IED, or improvised explosive device.

In fact, in the last six months, there have been 172 IEDs reported in the United States, according to a government count that an official revealed Tuesday in answer to questions about U.S. preparedness. The official shared the figures, which were gathered before Monday’s explosion, only on the condition that neither the official nor the official’s office be identified.

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My Comment: This is an astounding number. The skeptic in me says "no way" .... but when I did a brief Google search I surprisingly came up with a number of such incidents .... albeit most were small IEDs that were put together in a garage taht resulted in an explosion. But what is even more frightening .... it appears that the trend for this type of activity (for the U.S.) is increasing .... and the IEDs are getting bigger.

The Growing Threat Of IEDs In The U.S.

Items such as pressure cookers, homemade pressure plates and other common materials are used by enemy forces to make improvised explosive devices. Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 373, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), learn about the different types of IED's and how they are made during a Counter IED Class held at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. MWSS-373 Marines receive the training before they can go on convoys with the unit. During the class, Marines are also taught to use a metal detector, which they use to find a low metallic pressure plate during practical application. Dvids

America’s New Bomb Threat -- Eli Lake, Daily Beast

Some of the deadliest weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan—improvised explosive devices, or IEDs—are heading to U.S. shores, warns a top general.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, homemade, low-tech bombs, often hidden along roadsides, have been some of the deadliest threats to United States soldiers. In Afghanistan alone, these improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, were responsible for 1,290 of the 2,477 U.S. and coalition casualties since 2001, according to iCasualties.org, which tracks troop deaths.

Now, IEDs could be coming to U.S. shores.

According to Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, head of the military’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, some of the same terrorists who amassed the know-how on building IEDs are setting their sights on the U.S.

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More News On The Growing Threat Of IEDs In The U.S.

Experts have long warned about IEDs in U.S. -- Politico
Boston attack underscores growing threat of IEDs in America -- FOX News
Boston Bomb Blasts Awaken Veterans' IED Fears -- David Wood, Huffington Post
America the Vulnerable: IED’s Have Finally Come to the Homeland -- Timothy Dalrymple, Patheos

My Comment: The above article was posted by Eli Lake two days before the Boston marathon bombing .... talk about being prophetic. The below quote is from Lt. Gen. Barbero .... a quote that I fear is probably accurate ....

“ The greatest producer of causalities on the battlefield in the 20th century was artillery, and my assessment is the IED is the artillery of the 21st century.

                                      - Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, director of the Joint IED Defeat Organization (Quote from NPR)

IED's Are Now The Biggest Killers On The Battlefield

IEDs Replace Artillery As Battlefield's Biggest Killer, JIEDDO General Says -- Aol Defense

WASHINGTON: In almost every war of the modern era, artillery has played a decisive role. But the lowly IED, cobbled together explosives ignited by cobbled together detonators, has now replaced artillery as the greatest killer on the modern battlefield, according to Lt. Gen. Michael D. Barbero, head of the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO)

The Army general in charge of the multi-billion-dollar effort said the IED was a "global and enduring threat" that the U.S. military would have to deal with long after it ends its combat involvement in Afghanistan, now slated for 2014.

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More News On The Increasing Use (And Future Use) Of IEDs On The World's Battlefields

Congress told IEDs will remain 'weapon of choice' for decades -- Army.mil
US, Pakistan to develop counter-IED framework -- The Express Tribune
IED bomb attack deaths are falling in Afghanistan... because of rising costs of components -- Mirror
Afghanistan: The Taliban’s Dangerous New Munitions -- The Daily Beast
Walking Through an IED Minefield “On a Daily Basis” -- Mark Thompson, Time
Small DoD Organization Employs Innovation To Save Lives -- Aol Government
Insurgent Bombs Spread Way Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan -- Danger Room
JIEDDO beyond Afghanistan -- DoD Buzz
IEDs continue to kill and maim U.S. troops despite multibillion dollar effort -- William R. Levesque, Tampa Bay Times
How the US Quietly Lost the IED War in Afghanistan -- Gareth Porter, Anti War

IEDs Will Remain ‘Weapon Of Choice’ For Decades Against U.S. Soldiers

Congress Told IEDs Will Remain ‘Weapon Of Choice’ For Decades -- Defence Talk

Improvised explosive devices and the networks that use these asymmetric weapons, will remain an enduring threat to U.S. forces and the nation for decades to come, the Defense Department’s top counter-IED official told lawmakers, Sept. 20.

“The IED (improvised explosive device) is the weapon of choice for threat networks because they are cheap, made from readily available off-the-shelf components, easy to construct, lethal and accurate,” said Lt. Gen. Michael D. Barbero, Joint IED Defeat Organization, or JIEDDO, director, during testimony to the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on Defense Thursday.

This trend is apparent in Afghanistan, where IED events continue to rise, Barbero said.

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My Comment: The stats outlined in this post makes for some sober reading.

Robots That Can Be Blown Up But Keep On Working

Bombs Away Click here to get a bigger view of this amazing image. Reuters/Saad Shalash

The Robots That Can Be Blown Up and Keep On Detecting IEDs -- Popular Science

The homemade bombs known as IEDs accounted for 60 percent of all U.S. military injuries in Iraq and have killed more than 21,000 Iraqi civilians. Last November, a month before the last U.S. troops departed, Iraq’s federal bomb squad paraded with bomb-disposal robots in Baghdad. QinetiQ North America has sold 16 of the $100,000 remote-controlled Talons to the Iraqi police.

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My Comment: Better robots than our dedicated soldiers.

Worldwide IED Use Soaring: The Pentagon

Pentagon: IED Use Soaring Worldwide -- Antiwar.com

In comments which likely don’t augur well for his organization’s future, Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, the head of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, suggested there was no real way to defeat improvised explosive devices.

“If we think its going away after Iraq and Afghanistan, we’re dreaming,” Barbero said, noting that Pentagon stats show the weapons’ use soaring across the world, more than doubling in the past three years.

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Update: IED attacks increase outside of Afghanistan, Iraq -- USA Today

My Comment: As a weapon, IEDs are terribly effective .... a fact that other insurgencies around the world have realized for a very long time. As for the present conflict in Afghanistan .... IED use is reaching an all time high.

Laser Beam Detects Roadside Bombs

Photo: Michigan State University professor Marcos Dantus works with an associate in his laboratory in the Chemistry building. Kurt Stepnitz

Laser Detects Roadside Bombs -- MSNBC

Lab scientists are pitching a new high-tech laser that is able to detect roadside bombs before they explode, potentially thwarting the deadliest weapon in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Roadside bombs, known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, account for 60 percent of coalition soldiers' deaths, according to NATO figures. Finding a way to improve on — or at least replace — bomb sniffing dogs is therefore a priority abroad and at home.

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More News On New Lasers Being Able To Detect Roadside Bombs

Laser beam 'kicks' molecules to detect roadside bombs -- BBC
New Laser Beam Detects Roadside Bombs -- IBTimes
Laser Can Detect Roadside Bombs From a Distance -- Gizmodo
A 'laser-pointer' for detecting roadside bombs -- ZDNet
Researchers Develop Laser to Help Detect Roadside Bombs -- Daily Tech
Researchers Say Laser Could Detect Roadside Bombs -- PC Mag
New laser tech could detect roadside bombs -- Gizmag

Treating Concussions In War Zones

ROAD WARRIORS - U.S. Air Force Senior Airman John Fitzgerald, left, patrols a road with many known improvised explosive devices during an operation in the Alingar district in Afghanistan's Laghman province, Aug. 21, 2011. Fitzgerald is a medic assigned to the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane

Treatment for Concussions in War Zones -- At War/New York Times

Commander Earl Frantz is the officer in charge of the Concussion Restoration Care Center at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan, the first multidisciplinary concussion rehabilitation clinic set up in a war zone.



CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — The idea of treating warriors for concussion during the acute phase in the war zone is a new concept.



During the first nine years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, if a service member was not bleeding or visibly broken on the battlefield, he shook off any cobwebs in his head from an attack and returned to the fight.



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My Comment: The part of this post that caught my eye was the following ....



.... Concussion, often called mild traumatic brain injury, is now the most common battlefield injury, affecting more than 300,000 service members since 2001.



300,000 .... that's a lot of injuries and "close calls".

Detecting IEDs Has Not Changed Much Over The Years

Canadian soldiers from the NATO-led coalition run for cover after an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) explosion during a mission in the Taliban stronghold of Zhari district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, March 20, 2009. (Reuters)

As Improvised Explosive Devices Evolve, Soldiers Work to Find New Methods to Detect Them -- Wall Street Journal

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DWYER, Afghanistan—U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, visiting troops in southern Afghanistan, saw how the art of detecting buried explosive devices has changed little, in some ways, since his Army days despite the billions of dollars spent by the Pentagon to improve bomb detection.

During a visit to Forward Operating Base Dwyer in Helmand province, Mr. Panetta, 73 years old, witnessed a group of Afghan soldiers training with long, crudely constructed bamboo poles with hooks at one end, scraping through a dirt field to find and destroy improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

The sight reminded Mr. Panetta of when he served as an Army intelligence officer from 1964 to 1966. "When I was in the Army, you used to do that by bayonet," he said.

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My Comment: After spending billions on new technologies to find ieds, we get stuck with a bamboo stick and a hook. Read it all.

The Search For A Device To Stop IEDs

Marines detonate a homemade explosive device in the Helmand River valley in Afghanistan in 2009. David Gilkey/NPR

U.S. Military Searches For A Device To Stop IEDs -- NPR

Homemade remote-controlled bombs, also known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, have been one of the biggest killers of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At their peak, bombs were wounding 1,000 U.S. service members a month. Insurgents used them because they could attack from a safe distance.

The Pentagon has spent more than $17 billion to try to defeat the IEDs in a major game of cat and mouse: American engineers figure out how to jam the radio signals triggering the IEDs, insurgents then come up with a new radio signal to set off the IEDs, then the Americans find a new solution to jam the signal.

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My Comment: An interesting summary on how the impact and effectiveness of IEDs declined over time.

Trying To Stop IED Attacks

First Lieutenant Ungaro and Second Lieutenant Tilly standby as EOD preps a robot at an IED site in Iraq. (U.S. Army)

Pentagon Team Seeks New Ways To Foil Buried Explosives -- Washington Times

Robots, sensors needed for Afghanistan war.

A Pentagon agency has set up a team of experts to find ways to foil buried homemade explosives that increasingly are killing and maiming troops in Afghanistan.

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) said the new working group is looking at several counter-IED devices, including a “sacrificial robot” that could clear a footpath for “dismounted” Marines and Army soldiers.

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Update #1: No 'silver bullet' yet found to stop IED attacks -- Stars and Stripes
Update #2: How to protect troops against IEDs? The brass wants your help! -- DoD Buzz

My Comment: Here are some Marines who survived 6 .... I repeat .... 6 IED attacks, and all on one deployment.

No 'Silver Bullet' Yet To Stop IED Attacks

Photo from PopSci

No 'Silver Bullet' Yet Found To Stop IED Attacks -- Stars And Stripes

As in Iraq, where it became the most effective weapon of insurgents, the improvised explosive device, or IED, has raised the casualty count significantly for U.S. forces in Afghanistan the past two years.

A surge in ground forces and a change of strategy, to have more U.S. troops dismount from vehicles more to mix with the Afghan populace, has produced a more target-rich environment for homemade bombs.

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My Comment: I have doubts that there will ever be a sure fire way to stop most IED attacks from happening .... but dropping the frequency of these attacks is probably 'possible'. What is not helpful is Afghanistan's 'catch and release' program for Taliban bombers.

Major Breakthrough In Anti-Mine Technology?

Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, hold security on a M-ATV on May 15 after the vehicle hit an IED while traveling through Marjah, Afghanistan. The only injury suffered was a mild concussion. IED attacks in Afghanistan peaked in July; more troops are surviving the blasts due to the increase in MRAPs and M-ATVs on the ground. Thomas Brown / Staff

Gadget Makes Bombs, Mines go Off 'On Average' 20m Away -- Register

olombian and Swiss boffins say they have developed a cunning electromagnetic device which can make landmines or terrorist bombs explode from a distance.

Félix Vega and Nicolas Mora, doctoral students at the école polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, developed the bomb-triggering device as part of their doctoral theses. It works by using powerful radio waves to induce currents in the heating filaments within electrically-actuated detonators, so causing them to go off without benefit of any energy from the mine or device's firing system.

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My Comment: Develop this tech faster please.

IEDs Have Killed 21,000 Iraqi Civilians From 2005-2010

IEDs Kill 21,000 Iraqi Civilians 2005-2010 -- USA Today

Insurgents in Iraq killed more than 21,000 civilians and wounded another 68,000 people with homemade bombs over the past five years, according to newly released data from the Pentagon.

The highest number of casualties came in 2007, coinciding with the worst sectarian violence and the surge in U.S. military forces to quell it. In that year, 7,295 people died — nearly 20 a day — from improvised explosive devices, says the Pentagon. Another 21,970 Iraqis were wounded.

The devices include roadside bombs, car bombs and suicide bombers.

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My Comment: And the carnage still continues.

The Pentagon's IED Detection Program Budget Is On The Chopping Block

IED Detectors Near Brink In Pentagon Budget -- Washington Times

Defense Department weighs program's necessity, cost.

The Pentagon is eyeing cuts in a war office thought to be untouchable: the organization that devises ways to foil the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Officials say the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) has done good work in developing jammers and detection equipment to neutralize the enemy's use of roadside bombs.

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My Comment: The key sentence in this article is the following ....

"JIEDDO has managed to spend billions over the last three years without any significant improvement in defenses against bombs," said a Pentagon official who requested anonymity in order to speak freely about policy.

Yup .... billions spent and little if any results to show for it. That about sums it up.

Looking For IEDs To Blow Up

Army Spc. Zachary Wynn, top, of Marked Tree, AR, and Spc. Adam Auten, left, of Diagonal, IA, smile as their Task Force Thor IED clearance convoy reaches its destination at FOB Wilson without incident in Kandahar, Afghanistan. David Belluz/MCT

U.S. Vehicles Destroy Afghan Bombs By Rolling Over Them -- McClatchy News

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Spc. Joshua Joe drives a "Husky," a giant vehicle built to find and withstand the blast of a roadside bomb, putting him in the front line of the U.S.-led coalition's battle against the Taliban's most effective weapon in Afghanistan.

Seventeen U.S. troops fell to improvised explosive devices in a five-day period that began Aug. 27, and the weapons accounted for about 60 percent of the 485 International Security Assistance Force deaths this year through August, according to iCasualties.org, which tracks casualties in the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts. IED's also are a prime cause of casualties among Afghan civilians.

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My Comment: What a job .... looking for bombs to blow you up. You would think that an unmanned version of such a vehicle will be introduced by now.

The Battle Against IEDs Continues

U.S. Military Learns To Fight Deadliest Weapons -- Wired Magazine

One afternoon at the end of March, inside a cinder-block bunker on a small island in Chesapeake Bay, Scott Schoenfeld is waiting to blow something up. On a video monitor in front of him is a grainy image of a rusty steel box about 20 yards away. Inside is an explosive charge and an experimental target. A big, soft-spoken computational scientist wearing a black polo shirt, jeans, and wraparound sunglasses, Schoenfeld is one of the chief armor researchers for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, or Jieddo, the Pentagon agency dedicated to combating IEDs. He won’t tell me how much explosive he’s using today, or what, exactly, the target is. The charge is modeled on an IED discovered overseas, and the details remain sensitive, if not classified. “We’re trying not to give anyone ideas they don’t already have,” he says. But he will acknowledge that the charge is lethal. “Unprotected, it would kill many people. Pounds of high explosive are involved.” He hands me a pair of ear defenders. “The boom,” he says, “will be rather large.”

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My Comment: These guys have their work cut out for them .... but credit must be given where credit is due .... and that is their work has made a difference in the battlefield and it has probably saved scores of lives.

New Technology To Counter IEDs

U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Kear, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, searches for IEDs as a canal burns in Tahwilla, Iraq. (Photo by DVIDSHUB)

The Navy Reveals Secret Device to Defeat IEDs -- Popular Mechanics

The Pentagon has researched lasers, projectiles, jammers and everything else to defeat improvised explosive devices. The new effort uses radio waves to blow them up before their makers intend—but will it work?

Last week the Pentagon revealed the existence of a new weapon in the war against roadside bombs: a beam of radio-frequency energy that can detonate hidden Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) at a distance.

And its creators say the potential does not stop there—the beam could be also used to set off other types of warheads before they reached their target. In theory it might be used to set off ammunition before the enemy even has a chance to fire. "The capabilities are not limited to improvised devices," Lee Mastroianni, program manager at the Office of Naval Research (ONR), told Popular Mechanics.

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My Comment: Faster please.

A Witness Account To A Close IED Explosion

Aftermath of an IED attack

Letter From Afghanistan: Shaken to the Core -- Book Of Odds

"I think I am becoming uncommonly tolerant of substandard coffee."

My Platoon Sergeant is sitting at the wooden picnic table across from me sipping from a Styrofoam cup. He fixes me with a dull gaze and puts his cup down and chuckles. "Sir, why you gotta use all them big words? Nobody here is impressed. And this coffee is not substandard, it's Army standard."

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My Comment: This close call is going to live with him for the rest of his life.