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Detecting Roadside Bombs in Iraq
(AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer) Denis D. Gray - Initially, attackers would set just single explosives, crudely made and poorly placed, says Capt. Ronald J. Talarico of the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade. More recently, U.S. forces have encountered multiple bombs, including fake ones for "bait," while the insurgents hope to explode the real thing as soldiers move in to investigate. The insurgents are also moving away from detonating explosives by electric charges attached to wires because troops managed to kill some of them. Now, most of the explosions are set off by remote control devices - cell phones, garage door openers, toy car controls. Portable cellular jammers are being used by some convoys. Heat-seeking sensors are used to check roadside piles of trash and even dead donkeys, cats, and dogs into which explosives have been inserted in the past.