Protect the Troops from Cell-Phone Bombs

[thedrifter]

12-30-2003

Protect the Troops from Cell-Phone Bombs



By Michael S. Woodson



Terrorists and guerillas in Iraq and abroad use cell phones to detonate Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) because they?re economical, common and can double as listening devices. For U.S. troops, the results are lethal and crippling.



As of Dec. 28, IEDs have accounted for 63 of 325 American military personnel killed by hostile forces in Iraq. The number of Americans injured by IEDs out of the 2,622 listed as wounded or injured by the Pentagon has not been released.



The mystery is, why hasn?t the Pentagon responded by acquiring and deploying commercially available electronic monitors and jamming systems to thwart this threat?



Cell phone detonators are not new. Back in 1997, Motorola announced that it would act to prevent its components from being used in land mines. It was a commendable step focusing on halting the export of its microchips purchased specifically for the purpose of making land mines.



Now, cellular phone beams detonating electric blasting caps are a major security problem for both our troops in Iraq and homeland security officials here in the United States.



The technology does exist and equipment is now available to jam and detect cellular phone transmissions. It only took me a few simple internet searches to find the Ming Dynasty Ltd. website and an information page on the MD-3000 cellular phone signal jammer. While the Hong Kong-based company says the primary use of the MD-3000 is to prevent cell phones from being used as covert bugging devices, it also acknowledges that the equipment is currently in use by police and security agencies:



?Bomb disposal teams around the world use powerful jammers to block cellular phones which are used to trigger bombs. The recent remote detonation of explosive devices by using a cellular phone connected to the detonator shows just how important a cellular phone jammer can become in these years.?



The MD-3000 has an effective operating range of 35-40 meters.



Another example of off-the-shelf technology that is available to the troops right now is the portable Cellular Activity Analyzer (CAA) by the British firm, Netline, which can reportedly detect and alert the user to cellular phone presence and use.



The use of cell phones as bomb detonators and the civilian development of jammers was well known within the security industry long before the U.S. invasion of Iraq last March. An Associated Press article on Dec. 16 quoted Pakistani defense analyst Talat Masood as saying security agencies worldwide use jamming technology to prevent assassinations and terrorist attacks.



Just two weeks ago, this technology saved Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf from a terrorist attack on his motorcade. Electronic jamming devices delayed by a few crucial seconds the detonation of a powerful bomb as his motorcade passed by.



The Pentagon has no excuse but to acquire as many of these devices as needed to support the troops on occupation duty in Iraq.



Of course, this particular technology is no panacea. Insurgents can still use mechanical detonators such as pressure zones, rods or trip wires that may evade detection. Unfortunately, the Iraqi rebels probably have access to ?double-pressure? mines that delay detonating until registering a second tire or footstep, increasing the lethality of the blast. The threat from these mechanical devices beg for more sensitive forward scanning and detection technology. Until it is made available, the second precaution must be to harden convoys and troops against IED blasts and shrapnel.



A third commercial product is available to deal with bombs attached onto the bottom of military vehicles with magnets or other means. A Netherlands company, Transportation Security Systems International, makes such a device, called the Talos under car device detector.



Surely the technology development experts at the Pentagon and CIA are aware of this equipment.



It is outrageous that our troops patrolling the violent streets of Iraq do not already have these countermeasures. We owe the troops the best jamming, detection and protective technologies, and quickly.



Guest Contributor Michael Woodson is an attorney and writer in Denver. He can be reached at singingmountains@yahoo.com.


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Sempers,

Roger