Iraq: The Social Context of IEDs

Abstract

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are among the deadliest weapons coalition forces face in Iraq, and defeating their use by insurgents is both essential and extremely challenging. Thus far, U.S. defense science and technology communities have focused on developing technical solutions to the IED threat. However, IEDs are a product of human ingenuity and human social organization. If we understand the social context in which they are invented, built, and used we will have an additional avenue for defeating them. As U.S. Army Brigadier General Joseph Votel, head of the Pentagon's Joint IED Task Force, noted, commanders should focus less on the "bomb than the bomb maker." A shift in focus from IED technology to IED makers requires examining the social environment in which bombs are invented, manufactured, distributed, and used. Focusing on the bomb maker requires understanding the four elements that make IED use possible in Iraq: knowledge, organization, material, and the surrounding population.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA486807

Entities

People

  • Montgomery Mcfate

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ammunition
  • Chemistry
  • Civilian Population
  • Explosive Devices
  • Explosives
  • High Explosives
  • Improvised Explosive Devices
  • Information Operations
  • Insurgency
  • International Organizations
  • Iraqi-War
  • Materials
  • Military Research
  • Rocket Launching
  • Social Networks
  • Task Forces
  • Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Munitions and Ordnance Engineering