|  Steven D. Levitt of 'Freakonomics' fame has reported in his blog, the use of some innovative tools used by U.S soldiers in Iraq:
Because it might be a lifesaver: a soldier can spray the Silly String to look for trip wires around bombs. According to this A.P. article, “Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.”
Silly String is not standard military issue (yet), but rather one of many improvisational tools that U.S. troops have come up with in Iraq. Here are a few more that the article cites: “U.S. soldiers have bolted scrap metal to Humvees in what has come to be known as ‘Hillybilly Armor.’ Medics use tampons to plug bullet holes in the wounded until they can be patched up. Also, soldiers put condoms and rubber bands around their rifle muzzles to keep out sand. And troops have welded old bulletproof windshields to the tops of Humvees to give gunners extra protection. They have dubbed it ‘Pope’s glass.’”
No wonder Bush is eager to pull troops out of Iraq. If he keeps them there for more, they might just start using stones against rampaging crowds : )
On another note, I found the recommendations of the Iraq study group to be obnoxious, to say the least. The report essentially puts the onus on the new Iraq government to ensure peace is maintained and systems of governance established and if this is not done, within agreed time frames (18 months from now), the U.S would pull out troops, regardless.
Outrageous. They invaded a country on false premise (that Iraq was manufacturing weapons of mass destruction), did not plan for post war governance and management and have made a mess out of the whole situation to the point that there is a bloody civil war on, killing hundreds a day. And the people who landed Iraq in this mess now have the cheek to threaten that if the situation doesn't improve they would pull out because, they are loosing a couple of soldiers a day, or so? I think more than the loss of life (American and Iraqi), what is bothering the establishment is the fact that the war has got to be so outrageously expensive and is being fully funded by the U.S. treasury (by printing money in the classic traditions of the U.S federal reserve).Per MSNBC,"The most current estimates of the wars cost generally start with figures from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which as of January 2006 counted $323 billion in expenditures for the war on terrorism, including military action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just this week the House approved another $68 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which would bring the total allocated to date to about $400 billion. The Pentagon is spending about $6 billion a month on the war in Iraq, or about $200 million a day, according to the CBO. That is about the same as the gross domestic product of Nigeria
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