In Iraq, car bombs are becoming the principal, and most popular, weapon
of the terrorists, In May there were 143 car bomb attacks (both suicide
and remotely detonated), up from 145 in April, 69 in March, and an
average of 20-25 a month for the year before that. The bombs are
getting larger, and more often composed of explosives, and not 152mm
artillery shells, or 120mm mortar shells, rigged with detonators. The
larger, all explosives, bombs are more likely to destroy armored
hummers or trucks (which would otherwise stop most of the fragments
from 152mm or 120mm shells.) The greater use of car bombs partly
reflects the greater difficulty getting into, or even near, Iraqi
military, police and government targets. Roadside bombs are more
frequently discovered, or defeated with electronic devices. So the car
bomb is the most effective weapon, and the terrorists are building as
many as they can. Foreigners (usually Saudis) are recruited to drive
the suicide bombs. Saudis are much more eager to become martyrs than
are Iraqis.