Our friends down at their sweet home in Moon of Alabama further debunk the NY Times article that reminds us all that the New York Times itself fits neatly into an aluminum tube, or at least for NY Times work, a reasonable approximation thereof:

It is “aluminum tubes” all over again. When Gordon writes stuff like this, he is just repeating but never questioning the ridiculous assumptions whispered to him:

“According to American intelligence, Iran has excelled in developing this type of bomb, and has provided similar technology to Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. The manufacture of the key metal components required sophisticated machinery, raw material and expertise that American intelligence agencies do not believe can be found in Iraq. In addition, some components of the bombs have been found with Iranian factory markings from 2006.”

There is nothing sophisticated with shaped charges. These are known and used since world war one. To convert, let's say a regular 155mm artillery grenade into a shaped charge, one needs a piece of solid copper and a lathe or a hydraulic metal press. If those are not there hammer and anvil will do too. These materials and the tools are well available in Iraq. Any half competent mechanic can produce these things.

Gordon also writes:

“American military officers say that attacks using the weapon reached a high point in December, when it accounted for a significant portion of Americans killed and wounded in Iraq.”

Indeed iCasualties.org, which is based on Pentagon reports, does count 71 soldiers killed by IEDs during last December.

But 41 of those died in or near Baghdad and north-east thereof, another 21 died in the western Sunni Anbar province. Gordon's sources say the shaped charge weapon is mostly used by Shia in the south and was very deadly during December. How does this fit the facts?

It does not, but stenographer Gordon does not care to do those 10 minutes of research that it took me to debunk the claim.