Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Iraq Finally Bans Fake Bomb Detectors

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

An Anonymous Coward writes:

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

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Iraq Finally Bans Fake Bomb Detectors | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 22 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (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.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Funny=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Funny' Modifier   0  
    Total Score:   1  

  • (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.