IEDs in the Context of Appropriate Technology: Understanding and Defeating Artisanal Weapons in Afghanistan and Iraq, Simple but Effective Technologies, Gandhi and Schumacher

Professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction, this work suggests that a closer look at the context within which IEDs develop, appropriate technology, could shed light on ways to counteract them.

The American military, which pours billions of dollars into high tech research and development of its vehicles, has at times found itself struggling against relatively inexpensive and frequently unsophisticated homemade bombs known as improvised explosive devices, IEDs. These weapons have been responsible for the majority of NATO troop deaths in both Afghanistan and Iraq. It is almost as if the United States did not suspect such artisanal weapons were going to be used, or if they were that the evolutionary pace of countermeasures would exceed that of IED modifications.

What exactly is meant by "appropriate technology?" Unfortunately there are numerous interpretations of the term, making a precise definition universally accepted by all rather unlikely. To an extent it can be thought of as the products, and/or the movement to make such products; created with a community's technical, environmental, financial, social, political and other needs in mind; and frequently using locally available materials and labor-intensive as opposed to capital-intensive techniques." These small-scale operations generally do not require a high level of education, making them valuable for less developed countries, particularly at the village and rural levels. Foot-operated treadle pumps for irrigation, solar cookers and a host of other appropriate technologies are improving the lives of countless individuals.

By examining how previous examples of appropriate technology in a country of military interest were developed and distributed, valuable insights into what to expect in the realm of IED development and distribution might be obtained. As an example, take solar ovens, also known as solar cookers, usually about the size of a large breadbox which use the sun's energy to cook food. These devices, of which there are numerous designs ranging from dark pots with glass coverings to fairly sophisticated apparatuses incorporating parabolic reflectors, have proven to be a tremendous boon to villagers, especially women who are often tasked with collecting firewood. In so doing they help prevent deforestation and since some can boil water, assist in limiting the spread of water-borne illnesses.