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posted by n1 on Monday July 25 2016, @08:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the made-a-killing dept.

When there is a real threat, security theater kills people.

For nearly a decade, anyone driving through one of Baghdad's many checkpoints was subjected to a search by a soldier pointing a security wand at their vehicle and watching the device intently to see if its antenna moved. If it pointed at the car, it had supposedly detected a possible bomb.

The wands were completely bogus. It had been proven years ago, even before 2013 when two British men were convicted in separate trials on fraud charges for selling the detectors. The devices, sold under various names for thousands of dollars each, apparently were based on a product that sold for about $20 and claimed to find golf balls.

Yet the Iraqi government continued to use the devices, spending nearly $60 million on them despite warnings by U.S. military commanders and the wands' proven failure to stop near-daily bombings in Baghdad.

It took a massive suicide bombing that killed 300 people in Baghdad on July 3 — the deadliest single attack in the capital in 13 years of war — for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to finally ban their use.

Source: Military.com
Related: July Baghdad bombings
ADE651 Detector


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  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 25 2016, @08:26PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 25 2016, @08:26PM (#380023)

    Oh most beautiful of memes! Mod up Submitter +9000

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   0  
       Offtopic=1, Insightful=1, Total=2
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   0  
  • (Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Monday July 25 2016, @08:32PM

    by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Monday July 25 2016, @08:32PM (#380029)

    Kind of sad that the most effective way to end security theatre is to stage a huge attack despite of it. :P

    (I am totally going a a list now, aren't I? -- more security theatre!)

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by Snotnose on Monday July 25 2016, @08:34PM

      by Snotnose (1623) on Monday July 25 2016, @08:34PM (#380031)

      If you aren't on at least 2 lists by now your doing it wrong.

      --
      Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday July 25 2016, @08:44PM

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday July 25 2016, @08:44PM (#380034) Journal

        I'm writing a journal entry about an interesting hypothetical scenario. Let's see if I can get onto 5 lists.

        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 25 2016, @08:55PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 25 2016, @08:55PM (#380037)

          Its all fun and games until you get no-fly-listed in the middle of your business trip to europe and can't come home.

          • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Monday July 25 2016, @08:59PM

            by bob_super (1357) on Monday July 25 2016, @08:59PM (#380042)

            I'm not convinced it's actually a worst-case scenario...

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 26 2016, @12:55AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 26 2016, @12:55AM (#380123)

              Is getting no-fly listed while still in America. Just in time to find out either Trump or Hillary won, and that Russia's threats about cobalt enriched nuclear torpedos wasn't merely posturing...

          • (Score: 2) by Zz9zZ on Monday July 25 2016, @09:01PM

            by Zz9zZ (1348) on Monday July 25 2016, @09:01PM (#380044)

            Valid point, but don't forget that humor is one of our best coping mechanisms. Cracking jokes about the horror going on around us is healthy, once people are afraid to stop cracking jokes is when we need to march in peaceful protest.

            --
            ~Tilting at windmills~
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 25 2016, @09:25PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 25 2016, @09:25PM (#380055)

              "once people are afraid to stop cracking jokes" - lol. Once "average" people are afraid to stop cracking jokes, you mean. As someone born in the 1980's and versed in science and technology I've been afraid for about 15 years.

              • (Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Monday July 25 2016, @09:36PM

                by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Monday July 25 2016, @09:36PM (#380061)

                The implausibility of a "peaceful protest" while the population is afraid broke my sarcasm detector.

        • (Score: 2) by edIII on Monday July 25 2016, @10:45PM

          by edIII (791) on Monday July 25 2016, @10:45PM (#380088)

          I'm writing a journal entry about an interesting hypothetical scenario. Let's see if I can get onto 5 lists.

          No, you'll just be on hypothetical list of hypothetical scenarios.. :)

          --
          Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Tuesday July 26 2016, @02:08AM

      by frojack (1554) on Tuesday July 26 2016, @02:08AM (#380141) Journal

      I read somewhere that these were effective if only because the Taliban would avoid sending bomb trucks through those checkpoints. They didn't get the memo either. But they were afraid of them.

      Placebo Theater.

      Anti-Tiger rock in my back yard works the same.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Tuesday July 26 2016, @04:09AM

        by anubi (2828) on Tuesday July 26 2016, @04:09AM (#380175) Journal

        This is a good example of what I hated so much about being placed under non-technical bosses.

        What in the hell do I do if one of them gets his hand shaken by a con-artist?

        If I fight it, I am "not a team player", and let go.

        If I go along with it, the truth comes out, sooner or later, and I now have a reputation of being an incompetent fool.

        And as all of us know, men with "leadership" skills are given power over men with "technical" skills. The leadership types have the trump card of authority that excuses them from knowledge of technical detail... such as whether a device like this operates under any known laws of physics.

        Incidentally, those tiger rocks work great! I haven't seen a tiger yet!

        --
        "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
      • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday July 27 2016, @02:51PM

        by nitehawk214 (1304) on Wednesday July 27 2016, @02:51PM (#380760)

        Placebo Theater was all suppositories, though.

        --
        "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh