Iraq continues to use worthless ADE 651 bomb detectors
Despite damning evidence of the failings of the device, arrests and a British export ban, Iraqi forces continue to patrol with bogus gadget
An Iraqi soldier walks past a line of cars at an entrance to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, looking for the silver antenna of the bomb detector he holds to swing left, indicating a threat.
But however closely the soldier watches the plastic, pistol-gripped "detector" as he paces slowly past the cars, it will not lead him to any bombs or weapons, except by chance - it, like others used at checkpoints across Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, is worthless.
Evidence that the devices have no scientific basis and simply do not work has been available for years, but that has not stopped Iraq from continuing to employ them at checkpoints across the country, including those guarding highly sensitive areas such as the Green Zone, where the Iraqi government is headquartered.
Though violence in Iraq is down compared with past years, the country is still plagued by bombings and shootings, which killed 325 people in July, according to official figures - the highest monthly toll in almost two years.
And attacks during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began in July and ended in August, left at least 409 people dead.
Faced with such conditions, Iraq cannot afford to rely on non-functioning equipment, but it does, with security forces using the bogus "detectors" to determine which vehicles need extra scrutiny at checkpoints.