Weight of Combat Gear Is Taking Toll

[40below]

One of the key lessons from Iraq was that you had to know who the population was first, before you could start to build up any meaningful insurgent identity database. If everyone carries 3-5 (valid) IDs in different names (or no IDs at all), where there has been no census so you do not know who is supposed to live where and with whom, then it is very difficult to join the dots. Hence the introduction of biometrics on the battlefield and the push for units to conduct a census. Once that is established and we have a working justice framework then we might get somewhere faster.

And good luck with that. When I was in Sarposa Prison in Khar (as a visitor, I got to leave), the warden was still struggling to maintain an ID system for inmates for the reason that you mention (no birth certificates, multiple IDs.) The best they could do was a loose leaf folder of mug shots but the camera that the ANA who ran the prison had kept breaking. Well, there were other problems, but I can't see doing a head count in a country in which the putative authorities can't even put names to the people under 24 hour detention.

[davidbfpo]

Couldn't resist this, no doubt a brilliant scientific discovery, but the headline is great! Subtitled:

British scientists have created a liquid body armour suit that hardens and absorbs shrapnel on impact using – "bullet-proof custard".

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-soldiers.html

Might offer less body armour weight to carry.