Improvised explosive devices were a brutally effective terrorist tool against Coalition forces in Iraq in 2005. Their use nearly doubled over 2004, in fact, going from 5,607 uses to 10,953 last year. But their success rate dropped precipitously over the same period. It continues to decline, suggesting improved Coalition defense tactics, weakened capabilities in the terrorist insurgency or some combination of the two.
According to a report released last week by Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the “success rate” — defined as IED attacks that caused casualties or damage — fell from 30 percent of 5,607 attacks in 2004 to about 10 percent of the 10,953 attacks in 2005. So, last year, approximately 1,100 IED attacks caused damage, compared to roughly 1,700 in 2004.
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