Mike said:

I could be very wrong, but I just can’t believe that any government would put something in the field without conducting some kind of testing. For example, if I were to employ it I’d want to know its maximum range, and if it would work through glass (or wood, or metal, etc.). Any testing, however crude, would quickly point out that the devices don’t work. Does anyone recognise the uniform in the picture?

This idea that they were put into use seems like a hoax. The Iraqi government might have bought them, but I find it very hard to believe they employed them. And the soldiers using them must have wondered why it never dectected the bullets on their belts!

Mike,

Many middle east countries including the New Iraq are inherently corrupt especially in relation to Government purchases. This ‘product’ probably cost a few pence to make. It was sold at a huge price – there will be many, many backhanders, all the way up procurement chain. It would be in everyone’s interest to make it work/or at least make it be seen to work. There would be huge kick-backs for all those involved.

The irony of this fraud is that during Saddam’s time it might not have happened. Administrators and even Minister’s were executed for a lot less than this sort of scam.

Regards

Ian

        Mike said:

I could be very wrong, but I just can’t believe that any government would put something in the field without conducting some kind of testing. For example, if I were to employ it I’d want to know its maximum range, and if it would work through glass (or wood, or metal, etc.). Any testing, however crude, would quickly point out that the devices don’t work. Does anyone recognise the uniform in the picture?

This idea that they were put into use seems like a hoax. The Iraqi government might have bought them, but I find it very hard to believe they employed them. And the soldiers using them must have wondered why it never dectected the bullets on their belts!

I’m pretty sure that this is indeed a true story. I’ve seen it on numerous mainstream press sites (Times of London, BBC, CNN and so on) There are some videos of Iraqi security forces using it to “check” cars for explosives. Apparently Iraq bought more than a thousand of these.

I second the call that this guy may as well be hanged. I realize the UK doesn’t do that, so I hope he gets life in prison, but I very much doubt he will. Yes, this is a treasonous war crime. No two ways about it.

        Mike said:

I could be very wrong, but I just can’t believe that any government would put something in the field without conducting some kind of testing. For example, if I were to employ it I’d want to know its maximum range, and if it would work through glass (or wood, or metal, etc.). Any testing, however crude, would quickly point out that the devices don’t work. Does anyone recognise the uniform in the picture?

This idea that they were put into use seems like a hoax. The Iraqi government might have bought them, but I find it very hard to believe they employed them. And the soldiers using them must have wondered why it never dectected the bullets on their belts!

There are more pictures in some of the linked articles. They may very well have “tested” it. It is a dowsing rod. It works on the idiomotor effect, so that if you don’t have a double-blind test, you could be easily fooled into thinking it did really work.

This idea that they were put into use seems like a hoax. The Iraqi government might have bought them, but I find it very hard to believe they employed them. And the soldiers using them must have wondered why it never dectected the bullets on their belts!

You are right that this is a horrendous offense in that it put many lives in danger and may have killed some. It’s enabling the enemy and compromising international stratigic security goals and undermining cooperation where it is needed most. It takes a complete lack of ethics or humanity to send a device like this to the front lines.

I really hope this guy is prosecuted for more than a simple white-collar fraud crime. Just regular contract fraud gets you a short stint in minimum security and I’m assuming the law is similar in the UK. It’s the same law that covers execs who fudge expense reports or put in for losses they didn’t have. Not to excuse that, but this is a different league. It’s violent, murderous and treasonous.

        DV82XL said:

The damage that this has done to the credibility of those Western nations with troops in the area is incalculable. There was a time when this sort of fraud, in time of war, earned the perpetrator a date with a noose. Pity that won’t be the case here.

An excellent point. It has done potentially enormous damage to the effort to gain some level of cooperation and trust with local security forces. When the US, the British or any other western nation try to send special forces to train local security or offer something like a legitimate explosives detector (such as one that samples the air and uses ion spectroscopy to look for explosives) there is the potential to be written off.

I could see this as being a case that is worthy of consideration as high treason for the dangers that it causes in combat operations. One reason for the British shutting this guy down is fear that it would endanger the lives of British troops in Afghanistan or Iraq (although the British have largely withdrawn from Iraq, they still have some forces to secure the embassy and accompany diplomatic visitors)

It is the lowest slap in the face to the security forces on the front lines. The guys who man the checkpoints and try to keep bombs out of crowded markets and away from government buildings etc are largely men between the ages of 17 and 25 who are put out there with minimal protection and training in a very dangerous enviornment. They’re driven by either a genuine desire to help their country rebuilt or a need for the money to feed their families, or in many cases, both.

Simply put, this is one of the lowest act I can think of and a direct affront to international security.

It really cuts to the bone when it comes to trying to rebuild and secure a society that has been devastated. Considering that the crimes are largely endangering Iraqi lives on Iraqi soil, I would not have a problem with this guy being sent to get some Iraqi justice. They still have the noose over there and are not afraid to use it.