Idea.

[bunnyhunter12]

I have a quick thought on the wars in the middle east and how to "get some".

Since most of our countries soldiers who are killed or wounded are hit by roadside IEDs, that are usually made from our own "dud" artillery shells, here's the plan;

We usually move into an area after it is prepped by arty. Now nothing is perfect and some of the 105 and 155 shells don't pop. So why can't our men booby trap them so that the next terrorist pig that comes along will get zapped?

Are we above this kind of action? Is this beneath our standards on the proper way to fight a war? I'm really asking here. Do we have laws against this kind of thing? I thought the Geneva and Hague conventions only applied when fighting a uniformed army. Terrorists are not soldiers and do not warrant the protection of these laws and agreements when they never afford our troops similar "courtesy".

I'm not saying we should go about cutting off heads like these Heathens do regularly, but if a bunch of them are encountered on a road I don't want our troops wondering if it's legal to pop it in "six-wheel" and run them down.

Yes we are fighting for the ideals of "freedom, justice" and even plain old "good" but our men aren't allowed to "cross into Cambodia" or "cross the Yalu" all over again. We will lose more and more troops everyday if we don't start leveling the playing field. We have the most advanced equipment and best trained troops the world has ever seen but all that isn't much good against a bomb in an abandoned car.

I think I'll end this possibly endless rant right there.

[22WRF]

IEDs, that are usually made from our own "dud" artillery shells,

Not anymore. Iran is sending in sophisticated IEDS

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by bunnyhunter12

We usually move into an area after it is prepped by arty. Now nothing is perfect and some of the 105 and 155 shells don't pop. So why can't our men booby trap them so that the next terrorist pig that comes along will get zapped?

I see your point, Bunny, but I also see a couple of major problems: What you are essentially proposing is using mines. That's all well and good if you can be certain precisely who will encounter the mine, but most often you can't. Will it be an enemy combatant . . . or perhaps a 5-year-old kid? A second problem is the risk involved in converting the unexploded shells to mines. First of all, you have to find them, not always easy if they're buired in the sand. Second, would you want to mess around with an unexploded, potentially touchy shell while fusing it to act as a pressure mine? Finally, if we wanted to spread mines in an approprate area, we can do that with aircraft and artillery and with mines that will self-disarm after a set period.

[bunnyhunter12]

That's true Pistol, that's the thing about rants, you get an idea and start typing.

Another question. Are we using mines over there? Probably just defensively around installations and not just sowing fields around possible terrorist routes I guess, if at all.

I know the problems associated with mines and their being left on the field and sometimes only ever found by children but with GPS technology couldn't we be fairly sure that we can keep track of all the ones we deploy and deal with them later?

In an almost incoherrant way I'm saying we need to deal with roadside bombs. Everytime I hear of soldiers being killed in the world's sand-box, it's usually an IED.

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by bunnyhunter12

Another question. Are we using mines over there? Probably just defensively around installations and not just sowing fields around possible terrorist routes I guess, if at all.

. . .

In an almost incoherrant way I'm saying we need to deal with roadside bombs. Everytime I hear of soldiers being killed in the world's sand-box, it's usually an IED.

I would strongly suspect we use claymores (or perhaps a more modern equivalent) over there, Bunny, at least to guard bases and the like, but those are not pressure mines. I don't know if we use other, more traditional types, but I would doubt we use them extensively considering the danger to civilians. Perhaps one of the members here who has served a tour over there will know.

As for the IEDs, they are indeed a major problem, just as they were in Vietnam, and the problem of dealing with them is just as acute. They're hard to spot, cheap, quick to emplace, and often quite devastating. Seems to me one of our highest priorities should be to get those much more heavily armored Humvees into service.

[Bruce FLinch]

? Aren't most of the IED's exploded by remote control?

So why don't we set some up ourselves in a easily visible place. Keep a crew w/ remote camera & mic, handy & when the knuckleheads come along to set up theirs, we blow them up first? Fight terror w/ terror