04 November 2009

I got beat to the punch...

The worst part about having a day job which prohibits blogging is that bloggers frequently beat you to the punch on some of the best articles.

Take this article from the
New York Times, which appeared in SWJ's daily roundup--it's chock-full of unintentional funny (which has already been recognized by Andrew Exum and by the people at Ink Spots).

According to the article, an American company has sold the Iraqi Army 1500 bomb-detecting devices which cost tens of thousands of dollars apiece (ranging from $16,000 to $60,000). The only catch is that American bomb experts say that the devices are completely useless, and "work on the same principle as a Ouiji board". Yes, apparently, a company known as ATSC Ltd. is selling bomb-detecting equipment which is based on absolutely no known scientific principle whatsoever. This is about as laughably dishonest as a door-to-door mammogram salesman.

The Iraqis, on the other hand, claim that these work exceedingly well (despite a number of high-profile bombing attacks this week), although they really can't explain how they work. In what is perhaps the ultimate expression of the inshallah (Arabic for "God willing") attitude, an Iraqi general noted, "Whether it’s magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs". I'll summon the spirit of Han Solo and note that hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good bomb-sniffing dog at one's side. Speaking of which, the New York Times article continues:

The Baghdad Operations Command announced Tuesday that it had purchased an additional 100 detection devices, but General Rowe said five to eight bomb-sniffing dogs could be purchased for $60,000, with provable results.

Checking cars with dogs, however, is a slow process, whereas the wands take only a few seconds per vehicle. “Can you imagine dogs at all 400 checkpoints in Baghdad?” General Jabiri said. “The city would be a zoo.”


Baghdad may have suicide bombers which have killed hundreds in the past month, but dogs are where we draw the line.

And finally, folks, your moment of Zen:

The Justice Department has warned against buying a variety of products that claim to detect explosives at a distance with a portable device. Normal remote explosives detection machinery, often employed in airports, weighs tons and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. The ADE 651’s clients are mostly in developing countries; no major country’s military or police force is a customer, according to the manufacturer.

“I don’t care about Sandia or the Department of Justice or any of them,” General Jabiri said. “I know more about this issue than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world.”

Yes, the Iraqi Army may be plagued by sectarian differences, and conduct mass porno raids, but by God, do they know bombs!


2 comments:

Gulliver said...

According to the article, an American company has sold the Iraqi Army 1500 bomb-detecting devices which cost tens of thousands of dollars apiece (ranging from $16,000 to $60,000).

Actually, I think the company is British.

Starbuck said...

You're right. Thanks.