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Iraq

Iraqi insurgents raise toll with tech-fueled bombs

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - U.S. and British troops are being killed in Iraq by increasingly sophisticated insurgent bombs, including a new type triggered when a vehicle crosses an infrared beam and is blasted by armor-piercing projectiles.

The technology, which emerged during guerrilla wars in Lebanon and Northern Ireland, has been used in recent roadside bombings that have killed dozens of Americans and at least eight British soldiers.

The alarming efficiency has led many British and a few U.S. officials to argue that rogue groups in Iran and perhaps Lebanon are giving expertise to Iraq's insurgents. But others caution against that idea, saying the technology is available to those who know where to look.

Either way, the Pentagon is scrambling to find countermeasures, says Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a senior U.S. military officer in Iraq.

Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Iraq's insurgents are likely just tapping a pool of common bombmaking technology, none of which requires special expertise.

HUSSEIN'S DEFENSE: Lawyers for Saddam Hussein on Wednesday said they had ceased to work with the tribunal and considered the next court date to be canceled. Khalil Dulaimi, head of the defense team, said the defense considers the Nov. 28 trial date "null and void" after attacks on several of the attorneys unless there are security guarantees.

CHALABI IN D.C.: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi offered Wednesday to be questioned by the Senate on his role in prewar Iraq but refused to apologize for fueling allegations that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Accorded a warm reception by the Bush administration, Chalabi meets several Cabinet officers this week and next.

[Last modified November 10, 2005, 01:22:04]