BAGHDAD: A policeman in Baghdad knows the bomb detector he uses is fake, and will do virtually nothing to save anyone’s life, but he has his orders.
“If I were given a mop and told that it detects bombs in cars, I would still do it without any hesitation,” he said. “The device is a 100-percent failure and we know that, but it is imposed on us; we cannot disobey direct orders.”
James McCormick, a British businessman, made an estimated £ 50 million selling the “bomb detectors,” said to be based on a novelty golf ball finder, to Iraq and other countries.
He was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in jail for fraud. But despite the sentencing and overwhelming evidence that the devices are worthless, the Iraqi government has not taken them out of circulation. Most Iraqis familiar with the devices, made of black plastic with a pistol-style grip and a small silver antenna, do not hold them in high regard.
“The issue of the devices that the government imported... is like that person who lies to himself and then believes his own lies,” said Yassir Al-Khattab, who owns an electronics shop in central Baghdad.
Meanwhile, a bomb attack outside a Sunni mosque yesterday killed seven worshippers as Sunnis continued to hold demonstrations in Iraq to protest what they say is second-class treatment by the Shiite-led government. The attack on the mosque occurred as worshippers were leaving mid-day prayers at Al-Ghofran mosque in Rashidiya.
Iraq using fake bomb detectors
