Counter-Terrorism: What Works in Iraq

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December 12, 2005: In Iraq, adopting the Israeli tactic of going after the bomb makers has worked. Last month, the number of suicide bombings was at its lowest level in seven months. Car bombings (using both stationary and moving cars), declined from 130 last February, to 68 in November. American intelligence analysts, after examining the remains of hundreds of bombs, have increasingly identified individual bomb makers, and this has eventually led to capture, or killing, of many of the them. Turns out that the bomb making community was a small world, with many of the bomb makers knowing each other (or of each other.) It was felt that many suicide and car bombs were being stockpiled for a major campaign to try and derail the December 15 elections. Some stockpiled bombs have been found in the past month, but it appears the surviving bomb makers are too busy moving from one hiding place to another, to be concerned with stockpiling.

 

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