Casey J Porter Breaks the Lob-Bomb Story!

Two days ago the Washington Post broke a story on a new weapon that Shi'ite resistance forces in Iraq are using against US Troops there.

U.S. military officials call the devices Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions, or IRAMs. They are propane tanks packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives and powered by 107mm rockets.

Then again, you might have already known about it, that is, if you follow the videos being posted by Casey J Porter, a soldier based near Baghdad who is an active-duty member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. FotM has been proud to carry previous videos of his, like this one, and a moving letter of apology for the occupation he wrote.

His latest vlog from inside the Sandbox is call "A.O.--Area of Operations."

The video opens with this text:

Lob-Bombs are the new threat here in Iraq. It is the process of taking an oxygen tank that is used for welding and using it as a weapon. You cut it open and pack a portion of it with ball bearings, screws, and bolts. You then weld the tank back together and put pressure into it, some 3,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.

For maximum effectiveness, you attach mortars or small rockets to the side and set those off.

The video gives you a real-time glimpse of a Lob-Bomb attack in which two US troops died. Casey points out that the military reported these deaths to the media and the American public as resulting from "small arms fire."

Unh-hunh.

[And thanks again to the invaluable Jeri Reed for the tip-off.]