HBIED: The New Tactic of Al Qaeda in Iraq

Unfortunately, al Qaeda in Iraq has been responsible for giving the world new acronyms over the stretch of the War in Iraq - we first saw the IED (improvised explosive device) then came the VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) and now they have resorted to the HBIED (house-borne improvised explosive device) which has claimed many Iraqi lives in the past couple of months. From the article at DAWN:

Al Qaeda in Iraq is rigging houses and shops with explosives in a new tactic that has killed and maimed civilians in recent weeks and defied the thousands of security forces in Baghdad, officials say.
The renting of residential buildings for targeted bombings has forced police and the army to adapt their operations, in a bid to prevent more of the attacks that have killed dozens since the country’s inconclusive March 7 election.
The US military has even coined a new acronym — HBIED (house-borne improvised explosive device) for the bombings, which have left hundreds wounded in the past month in the Iraqi capital.

All of this brings me to a discussion of Iraq and what exactly will happen when U.S. troops are completely withdrawn. Now, I tend to be pessimistic about the chances for the new democracy just because of the fact that Iraq is such a desired target by so many groups - al Qaeda has always said this land should be their top prize as it represents the capital of the world caliphate and we certainly cannot deny the Iranians' longing for control of the oil rich land. At the same time, the cities of Iraq have weathered some of the most recent al Qaeda attacks fairly well, since they have become devoid of American presence but the fact of the matter is that al Qaeda in Iraq is still there and the question begs... what influx of al Qaeda jihadis will occur when the Americans leave?

I would have to say that my biggest concern revolves around this scenario: U.S. troops withdraw completely and in that vacuum, al Qaeda sends in hundreds of fresh jihadis that again make a presence known in Al Anbar and in Baghdad, then after dozens of horrific attacks by al Qaeda, the government of Iraq calls in help from Iran to fight al Qaeda - that assistance from Iran would spell the death of the democracy as once Iranian Revolutionary Guards and/or Quds Forces are in Iraq, they will never leave. And the presence of Iranian Shias in the country would pretty much force a number of Sunnis to align with al Qaeda in Iraq and well, after that... you can almost paint your own ugly picture.

But hey, Barack Hussein Obama will be able to say he got our troops out of Iraq, won't he?

Al-Qaeda using new tactic in war


BAGHDAD: Al Qaeda in Iraq is rigging houses and shops with explosives in a new tactic that has killed and maimed civilians in recent weeks and defied the thousands of security forces in Baghdad, officials say.
The renting of residential buildings for targeted bombings has forced police and the army to adapt their operations, in a bid to prevent more of the attacks that have killed dozens since the country’s inconclusive March 7 election.

The US military has even coined a new acronym — HBIED (house-borne improvised explosive device) for the bombings, which have left hundreds wounded in the past month in the Iraqi capital.

The HBIED follows the IED (improvised explosive device — homemade bomb) and VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device — car bomb) into a terrorist lexicon started in Iraq and subsequently transported to Afghanistan.

“Our forces are focussing on the renting of apartments and buildings,” Maj-Gen Qassim Atta, a Baghdad security forces spokesman, said.

Militants were continually looking to exploit gaps in the city’s defences, he said.

“They change their methods periodically because most of their plans and tactics have been discovered. I believe they are already searching for another method of attack, maybe churches or bridges.”

Some 25 people were killed on election day, when explosives destroyed two buildings in northeast Baghdad. The US military, which pointed the finger at Al Qaeda, said the properties had been rented and deliberately blown up.

A further 35 people died on April 6, when explosives were planted in houses and shops in mostly Shia neighbourhoods, leading Atta to say Iraq was in an “open war” with Al Qaeda and loyalists of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

A number of those properties had also been rented days earlier, security officials said.

Counter-terrorism experts say the insurgents are placing bombs in houses and shops despite the methods being frowned upon by much of Al Qaeda.

“These stories are credible,” said Brian Fishman, a counter-terrorism research fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington DC, and author of “Dysfunction and Decline: Lessons Learned from Inside Al Qaeda in Iraq”. —AFP