British bomb detector incapable of detecting bombs

[Al-khiyal]

Export ban for useless 'bomb detector'

January 22, 2010 -- The UK government has announced a ban on the export to Iraq and Afghanistan of some so-called "bomb detectors". It follows an investigation by the BBC's Newsnight programme which found that one type of "detector" made by a British company cannot work. The Iraqi government has spent $85 million on the ADE-651 and there are concerns that they have failed to stop bomb attacks that have killed hundreds of people. The ban on the ADE-651 and other similar devices starts next week. Sidney Alford, a leading explosives expert who advises all branches of the military, told Newsnight the sale of the ADE-651 was "absolutely immoral". "It could result in people being killed in the dozens, if not hundreds," he said.

Questions were raised over the ADE-651, following three recent co-ordinated waves of bombings in Baghdad. Thirty-nine-year-old Aqeel Yousif Yaqoub was caught in a bomb at Iraq's Justice Ministry last October. The blast left him with injuries to his face and limbs, and damaged his take-away falafel store. "If they were effective," he asked, "how did the suicide car bomb reach this area?" And an attack in December killed over 120 people, prompting Iraqis to ask how the bombs could have got through the city's security. Attention is increasingly focusing on the ADE-651, the hand-held detector now used at most checkpoints in Baghdad.

'Glorified dowsing rod'

Iraq has bought thousands of the detectors for a total of $85m (£52m). The device is sold by Jim McCormick, based at offices in rural Somerset, UK. The ADE-651 detector has never been shown to work in a scientific test. There are no batteries and it consists of a swivelling aerial mounted to a hinge on a hand-grip. Critics have likened it to a glorified dowsing rod. Mr McCormick told the BBC in a previous interview that "the theory behind dowsing and the theory behind how we actually detect explosives is very similar". He says that the key to it is the black box connected to the aerial into which you put "programmed substance detection cards", each "designed to tune into" the frequency of a particular explosive or other substance named on the card. He claims that in ideal conditions you can detect explosives from a range of up to 1km. The training manual for the device says it can even, with the right card, detect elephants, humans and 100 dollar bills.

Anti-theft tag inside

Claims of such almost magical technical abilities would almost be comic, if the potential consequences were not so serious. Newsnight obtained a set of cards for the ADE-651 and took them to Cambridge University's Computer Laboratory where Dr Markus Kuhn dissected a card supposed to detect TNT. It contained nothing but the type of anti-theft tag used to prevent stealing in high street stores. Dr Kuhn said it was "impossible" that it could detect anything at all and that the card had "absolutely nothing to do with the detection of TNT". "There is nothing to program in these cards. There is no memory. There is no microcontroller. There is no way any form of information can be stored," he added.

High price

The tags which are supposed to be the heart of such an expensive system cost around two to three pence. "These are the cheapest bit of electronics that you can get that look vaguely electronic and are sufficiently flat to fit inside a card," Dr Kuhn told Newsnight. The ADE-651 has been sold to a range of Middle Eastern countries and as far afield as Bangkok for eye-watering prices. Iraq paid around $40,000 for each device. No Western government uses them. The promotional material for the ADE-651 claims it is powered only by the user's static electricity. Iraqis themselves are sceptical about the device. "They don't work properly," Umm Muhammad, a retired schoolteacher said. "Sometimes when I drive through checkpoints, the device moves simply because I have medications in my handbag. Sometimes it doesn't - even when I have the same handbag." The BBC has learned that following the December bombings, the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered an investigation into the bomb detectors, expected to report any day now.

FBI warnings

Concern over the use of dowsing rods to detect bombs was first raised by American sceptic, James Randi. Mr Randi has confirmed to the BBC that he is still offering Mr McCormick $1 million if he can prove that the ADE-651 works. In 1995, the Sandia national labs and the FBI raised the alarm over a dowsing rod device called the Quadro Tracker which they described as "a fraud" and the FBI warned: "All agencies should immediately cease using the device." In 1999, the FBI put out another alert: "Warning. Do not use bogus explosives detection devices." In 2002, a test by Sandia labs in the US found that a similar dowsing rod device, called the Mole detector, did not work and performed "no better than a random selection process". They concluded that it did not work and that it looked "nearly identical" to the Quadro Tracker.

Last month, a senior Iraqi officer involved in bomb-prevention defended the ADE-651. Major General Jehad al-Jabiri, who appeared at a press conference with Mr McCormick following the December explosions, said he did not "care about Sandia" and knew more about bombs than the Americans: "Whether it's magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs," he said. And policemen manning checkpoints in Baghdad have told the BBC that you need to be relaxed to use the ADE-651 and that it does not work properly if the user is stressed or has a high heart rate. In other words, the message which has got through to the frontlines is - if it does not work, blame the operator not the device.

Mr McCormick declined our request to interview him for this report, but late last year he told the BBC that he has been selling products like the ADE-651 for over a decade and that he has sold 6,000 of them to around 20 countries. They are in use everywhere from Thailand to Pakistan and Lebanon. "For a British company to be selling a piece of technology that is useless when it's meant to be saving lives is abhorrent," Lou McGrath, chief executive of the charity, Mines Advisory Group, told Newsnight.

[Al-khiyal]

Boss who sold bomb detectors to Iraq arrested over fraud

January 22, 2010 -- The managing director of a British company that has been selling bomb-detecting equipment to security forces in Iraq was arrested on suspicion of fraud today. At the same time, the British government announced that it was imposing a ban on the export of the ADE-651 detectors because it was concerned they could put the lives of British forces or other friendly forces at risk. The government promised to help investigate the multimillion-pound deal between the company, ATSC, and the security forces in Iraq. Iraq has invested more than £50 million in buying the devices and training people to use them. Police and military personnel have used them to search vehicles and pedestrians for explosives. But concerns over their effectiveness – and fears they could put lives at risk – have been raised. Avon and Somerset police officers arrested Jim McCormick, 53, on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation. A spokesman said: "We are conducting a criminal investigation and, as part of that, a 53-year-old man has been arrested. It was reported to the Chief Constable Colin Port, through his role as the Association of Chief Police Officers' lead on international development. Given the obvious sensitivities around this matter … we cannot discuss it any further at this time." The export ban on the device will come into force next week.

McCormick, managing director of ATSC, based in a former dairy in Sparkford, Somerset, defended his devices last year. He claimed they were derided because of their flimsy appearance and said the detectors pinpointed explosives in the same way a dowsing rod finds water. Speaking then, he said: "We have been dealing with doubters for 10 years. One of the problems we have is that the machine does look a little primitive." The focus on the devices has intensified over recent weeks following co-ordinated waves of bomb attacks in Baghdad. ATSC's brochures claim the device can detect minute quantities of explosives at large distances – up to 1km. There are no batteries in the device. It consists of a swivelling aerial mounted to a hinge on a hand grip. The American magician and professional sceptic, James Randi, tested the devices and expressed his doubts over them. He even challenged McCormick to prove the ADE-651 really worked – offering $1 million if he succeeded. McCormick once told the BBC that "the theory behind dowsing and the theory behind how we actually detect explosives is very similar."

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills said: "Tests have shown that the technology used in the ADE-651 and similar devices is not suitable for bomb detection. As non-military technology, it does not need an export licence and we would not normally need to monitor its sale and use abroad. However, it is clearly of concern it is being used as bomb-detection equipment. As soon as it was brought to the attention of the Export Control Organisation and Lord Mandelson, we acted urgently to put in place export restrictions which will come into force next week. We will be making an order, under the Export Control Act 2002, banning the export of this type of device to Iraq and Afghanistan. The reason the ban is limited to these two countries is that our legal power to control these goods is based on the risk that they could cause harm to UK and other friendly forces. The British Embassy in Baghdad has raised our concerns about the ADE-651 with the Iraqi authorities. We have offered co-operation with any investigation they may wish to make into the how the device came to be bought for their military as bomb-detection equipment."

[NinaGucci]

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[Al-khiyal]

Iraq MPs bid to remove bomb detector

January 24, 2010 -- Iraqi lawmakers have demanded the withdrawal of a UK-made bomb detection device after the British government said it doesn't work and its manufacturer was arrested on suspicion of fraud. The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, tonight ordered an investigation into the mass purchase of the ADE651 wand, made by ATSC, which had been sold in bulk to Iraqi security forces, before Britain imposed an export ban last week amid new doubts about its effectiveness. The security and defence committee of the Iraqi parliament alleged that there had been corruption in the tendering process, which has seen some ministries stand by the devices despite a spate of devastating attacks in which car bombs passed through multiple checkpoints that had used the detector.

The U.S. military has been scathing, claiming the wands contained only a chip to detect theft from stores. The claim was based on a study released in June by U.S. military scientists, using x-ray and laboratory analysis, which was passed on to Iraqi officials. "The examination resulted in a determination that there was no possible means by which the ADE651 could detect explosives and therefore was determined to be totally ineffective and fraudulent," Major Joe Scrocca, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, told the Associated Press.

The U.S. military, and private contractors that guard Baghdad's international zone and airport road, use tried-and-tested sniffer dogs to keep explosives out. But elsewhere in Baghdad, police or soldiers man virtually every checkpoint with one of the wands, which retail at around $40,000 (£24,840) each. Hussein al-Falluji, a member of the security and defence committee, said: "These devices have caused nothing but big problems in Iraq. They have failed to detect bombs and thousands of Iraqis have been killed … it has been proven they are a 100% failure."

The furore erupted after a BBC Newsnight investigation took the wand to a Cambridge University computer lab, which demonstrated beyond doubt that it contained nothing that could detect components used to make explosives. Despite the scientific condemnation, the Iraqi interior ministry was standing by its bulk purchase of around 3,000 devices, claiming it had successfully detected 773 bombs.

[Al-khiyal]

UK warns world about useless 'bomb detectors'

January 27, 2010 -- A UK government ban on the export of "magic wand" bomb detectors to Iraq and Afghanistan becomes effective on 27 January, as the BBC reveals further shocking evidence of the shortcomings of these devices. The restriction is being imposed following a BBC Newsnight investigation which showed that the supposed detectors were incapable of detecting explosives or anything else. There are concerns that they have failed to stop bomb attacks which have killed hundreds of people. The British Foreign Office has told the BBC that they will now be urgently warning all governments who may have bought devices such as the ADE651 and GT200 that they are "wholly ineffective" at detecting bombs and explosives. The ADE651 is made by a company from Somerset called ATSC. The director of the company, Jim McCormick, was arrested at the beginning of this month on suspicion of misrepresentation. The GT200 is sold by Global Technical in Kent.

Global concerns

Despite advice from the British embassy in Baghdad, the ADE651 is still in use on checkpoints in Iraq, while an investigation ordered by the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki continues. In the past three days, 58 people have died there in bombings. In Pakistan, which is not covered by Britain's export ban, rows have broken out after newspapers highlighted the continued use of similar devices at Jinnah International Airport in Islamabad. Another country not covered by the UK ban is Thailand, where MPs are calling for the withdrawal of 500 GT200 detectors after a number of deaths were blamed on their failure to find explosives. Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban has tried to reassure MPs that the GT200 is not like the ADE651: "We use a different brand," he said. The devices are also in use in Mexico, Kenya, Lebanon, Jordan and China.

Analysis

The British government has banned the export to Iraq and Afghanistan of all such devices that claim to be powered by static electricity - like the ADE651 and GT200. The UK Department for Business (BIS) said "tests have shown" that they are "not suitable for bomb detection". Newsnight obtained a GT200 that was sold as a bomb detector and discovered that it was almost identical to the ADE651. It consists of an aerial on a handle connected to a black box into which you are supposed to insert substance detection cards. The head of Global Technical, Gary Bolton, told Newsnight: "There are no electronic parts required in the handle." Explosives expert Sidney Alford took apart the "black box" of the GT200, which is supposed to receive signals from the detection cards. He was surprised at what he found. "Speaking as a professional, I would say that is an empty plastic case," he told us. Mr Alford also took apart a "detection card" and found there was nothing in it other than card and paper. Gary Bolton from Global Technical told the BBC that the lack of electronic parts "does not mean it does not operate to the specification".

Alternative uses

The devices have also surfaced in Kenya where comedian and broadcaster Stephen Fry saw them in use by rangers when he was filming for the BBC series, Last Chance to See. Mr Fry told the BBC that he thought it was "cynical, cruel and monstrous" that rangers - who were trying to track down poachers - had been told they could detect ivory at vast distances. "I was horrified. They had spent a vast sum of money on a modern equivalent of a hazel twig divining rod. There was no possibility that such a thing could work."

[Al-khiyal]

Why did UK not ban so-called 'bomb detectors' earlier?

February 17, 2010 -- Questions are being raised about why the British government did not intervene to stop the export of useless "bomb detectors" such as the British-made ADE651 and GT200 earlier, before they were exported to Iraq, Thailand, Pakistan, China, Mexico, Kenya, Lebanon and many other countries. Following a BBC Newsnight investigation into the "magic wand detectors", which was broadcast on 22 January 2010, which showed that they had no functioning parts, Britain banned their export to Iraq and Afghanistan because they might endanger British or allied forces. They then issued a warning to governments around the world that they did not work. On Tuesday of this week, the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva, banned the purchase of any more GT200s after further tests in Bangkok showed they were no more effective than guessing where explosives might be. It has now emerged that the British authorities have been aware of the devices for at least 10 years and that the UK Foreign Office has been aware of concerns for a year.

Fail in scientific trials

In January 2000, Gary Bolton who runs the company which makes the GT200 tried to sell an early version called the Mole to British customs. He even demonstrated it to search teams at Heathrow airport as a drug detector. It failed to find a large sample of cocaine at a range of less than one metre, but no scientific tests were carried out. In 2002 the Mole was tested in a thorough double blind trial at the Sandia National Laboratories in the United States, which found that it was incapable of detecting explosives. As in all scientific trials of these "dowsing" detection devices they performed no better than random chance. Professor Bruce Hood of Bristol University has been campaigning against these devices which he describes as "a piece of plastic with a car aerial sticking out of it" and he says that after the Sandia trials in 2002 "at that point someone should have stepped in and shut this operation down". Instead hundreds of GT200s were sold to Thailand for a total bill of over $20 million and more than a 1,000 ADE651s have been sold to Iraq.

Concerns flagged up

The Iraqi government has spent $85 million on the devices which are used on most checkpoints and there are concerns that they have failed to stop bomb attacks that have killed hundreds of people. In January 2009 the Chair of the Defence Select Committee, James Arbuthnot MP, raised concerns about the marketing of the GT200 with Defence Minister Quentin Davies MP. The Foreign Office told the BBC that they also became aware in March 2009 that "concerns had been raised" about the ADE651 used in Iraq and started monitoring the situation, but they didn't warn the Iraqis until November 2009. Even then they did not tell them that the devices did not work - they just warned of the "possible risk to life of relying on these devices if they were indeed ineffective".

Arrest

In late December 2009, Avon and Somerset police stopped a shipment of ADE651s and on 5 January 2010 they arrested Jim McCormick, the boss of the company which makes the devices, on suspicion of fraud. But it was not until after the BBC investigation was broadcast on 22 January 2010 that the British government imposed an export ban on the devices to Iraq and Afghanistan. And it was not until 5 February that they contacted other countries to warn that "the British government has serious doubts about the effectiveness of devices such as the ADE651 and GT200 at detecting bombs". The Liberal Democrat MP David Heath is outraged at all the delays and plans to ask Prime Minister Gordon Brown "why nothing was done to try to stop all this at the earliest opportunity and why other countries were not warned that these devices were quite frankly useless".

[Al-khiyal]

Disputed UK-made bomb detector to stay in service in Iraq

February 23, 2010 -- An Iraqi investigation into a reportedly ineffectual hand-held bomb detector has concluded that the gadgets should not be discarded. The survey, ordered by Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, found the British device, known as ADE651, generally worked. However some of the gadgets, found to be ineff*ective, would be replaced. A government spokesman later said only 50% of the devices worked. Exports to Iraq and Afghanistan of the devices, which have been defended by the maker, ATSC, were banned by Britain last month after a series of suicide bombings in Baghdad that killed hundreds.