Electronic Wizardry in Iraq Electronic Wizardry in Iraq

Strategypage.com has an article titled: "Why No One Can Trust Anyone in Ramadi". Apparently the different terrorist organizations in that town are turning each other in to the Coallition, with al Qaeda apparently getting the better part of the bargain. This is akin to what the various factions did with the Germans in Yugoslavia in WWII.

But the article also talks about some of the electronics stuff that we are doing there. Apparently, convoys routinely employ electronics jammers to thwart electronically detonated IEDs. This results in a temporary disruption in local cell service (esp. since cell phones were routinely used before this for just such a purpose). So, the guy running away from a convoy with a phone to his ear is usually not a terrorist, just someone who wants to keep a call.

Also, the Americans are apparently using good SigInt to track cell and walkie-talkie calls, even to untracable cell phones. Duh - who invented these technologies? Ditto for "encrypted" Internet communications.