THE GULF WAR: The Battle Front : Low-Tech Protection

Iraq’s militia, the Popular Army, has urged people in Baghdad to SET BONFIRES AND CAMOUFLAGE BRIDGES as protection from allied bombs. Tires, old clothes and shoes, bits of plastic, paper and other flammable materials that will create thick, black smoke are collected and set ablaze under bridges and around the capital, reports say. The smoke is intended to cut the visibility of allied pilots and to make it appear to surveillance satellites that parts of Baghdad are burning. Tree branches and leaves attached to bags made of jute are wrapped around bridge railings as camouflage. Some car owners try their own hand at camouflage, smearing their vehicles with mud paste.