Suspect Devices

In the wake of the American-led invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq, one weapon in particular has come to dominate the image we have of these wars - the 'Improvised Explosive Device' or IED. Dramatised by films such as The Hurt Locker and omnipresent in the media because of its continuing toll on allied service personnel, especially bomb-disposal specialists, the IED has become the ubiquitous asymmetric 'weapon of the weak' and a major threat to Western foreign policy objectives and military morale. In this rigorous book on the IED phenomenon, Caroline Kennedy argues that it is in- deed a 'ubiquitous weapon,' but that it is not new and has been a feature of the battlefield for much longer than we imagine. She shows how the IED became a thorn in the side of the 'Western way of war' and how its increasing proliferation into criminal organisations and use in 'ordinary' forms of violence represents a step change in threats to both military and civil order and a potent challenge to Western interests at many levels.
Suspect Devices offers a graphic interpretation of the power, both actual and symbolic, of this durable and potent weapon, and an important and urgent reflection on its contemporary relevance.