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Silly String Defeats Jihad

One thousand cans of the neon-coloured plastic goo known as Silly String have been packed off to Iraq to help save the lives of US troops. Despite living in an age of big-budget high-tech weapons systems, cans of the stuff - previously the preserve of kids' parties - are making a genuine difference. US troops in the Gulf regularly use the "string" to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, who is a soldier there. Mrs Shriver organised a campaign to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.

Before entering a building, soldiers squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 12ft across a room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires are present, but if it hangs in the air, it alerts the troops that the building is booby trapped.

I heard an interview with Mrs. Shriver this morning on WLS 890 AM, Chicago, and she said that the military has been reluctant to discuss the role Silly String is playing in Iraq. Well, the tripwire is not likely to go out of style anytime soon over there, so the Silly String ploy is likely to be effective as long as there is an insurgency in Iraq.

Posted by Ken McCracken · 8 December 2006 11:34 AM

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