We heard about them. They were called car bombs in the news over here, not IEDs.

Eddie hit it on the head. We did not start using the term IED until 03 / 04ish because that was when we began leveraging the British military's experience in Northern Ireland to help deal with the threat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to that they were known as booby traps, bombs, car bombs, etc.; and they were in the news all the time in the US.

We do struggle with staying abreast of events not of direct concern to us. Obviously, some Americans maintain a more cosmopolitan outlook. However, I observed living in Ireland that my Irish peers were aware of things that were well outside my experience. Talking about Desert Shield/Storm (which was occurring at the time) with my Irish house mates was an enlightening experience.

Living in Ireland at a time when the struggle in the North was still very much alive was also an education. Being an Irish-American lad from Boston, I had been exposed to a particular point of view. Living in the Republic and watching the news broadened my horizons on the matter. Traveling to the UK made me appreciate that the Brits were living in our post-9/11 world long before 9/11. Imagine not being able to use the Underground over a bomb threat! In 1991!

Webstral

And I recall flying out of Heathrow in summer 1991 and dealing with ecurity beyond anything I've encountered in the US post-9/11.

I also recall "roadside bomb" being in vogue with the media here before they picked up on IED.

I experienced my first personal encounter with profiling in Glasgow. I was flying to Ireland for my junior year abroad, and at the time Aer Lingus didn't have a direct flight from Boston. The customs official saw me and my passport and promptly pulled me out of line for some questioning. I was rather taken aback by it all. I was thinking, I'm an American, damn it!

On a side note, my father was right. Before I left, he insisted that I organize my documents: passport, letter of acceptance to UC Cork, bank check for living expenses, etc. I poo-poohed him, but I put evrything in a nice leather case to placate him. The British customs officials asked for every document my father had insisted I have in one convenient place--twice (just in case the first time I had shown them had been some IRA slight-of-hand). They were not friendly to me. I had to run to my connecting flight, which was in the process of closing the door when I arrived. Apparently, I fit a profile.

Years later, Ireland would become a problem of a different sort. The folks who manage background checks for MI were very unhappy about Ireland. They couldn't understand why my passport was stamped three weeks after classes were supposed to have begun in Cork. Explaining that I arrived in Shannon on a Sunday, which meant in Catholic Ireland that Customs was closed, got me nowhere. How could that be? And why hadn't I gone back to Shannon fromm Cork to get some sort of official document explaining it all. The little stamp in my passport with a little note from the central Garda station in Cork did not impress the Americans. They also asked if I had become a combat engineer to teach explosives skills to the IRA, to which I replied that they should pay attention to the dates: I was in Ireland 1990-1991, while AIT for combat engineers didn't start until 1993. I'm sure a note was made about how uncooperative I was. Apparently, so are the Irish, who, it seems, flatly refused to provide any documents to my clearance folks on request.

Webstral

this IED thread and talk of "r e c i p e s" reminds me of a page that Paul has on his site and how some people took his site out of context. (paul, the link to fucked company doesn't work anymore)

http://www.pmulcahy.com/humor/flame_mail.html