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IED

Improvised explosive device.
How curious and technical,
this description of death.
A simple acronym,
Mentioning the words,
an instant depiction of death.
Mental images stirred
and conjured horrors realized.
Such a curious and strange term,
resonant with such graphic,
crystal-clear depiction,
of the desert affliction.
IED, the horror,
the signature weapon,
of the desert war.

—Maj. Edward L. Bryan, U.S. Army
September 2010

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March 2023