Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) became a deadly hallmark of the Iraq War. They were hidden on roadsides and detonated as American convoys would pass over them. As the war became one of occupation and counter-insurgency, these became the main weapons used by insurgents to attack U.S. troops.

Overall, more than 1,700 U.S. troops were killed by these devices, and many of them were from Arizona, according to freelance reporter Sean Holstege. His newest series on IEDs appears in The Phoenix New Times starting Thursday.

In it, he uncovers the case of a 40-year-old Syrian man who was convicted on terrorism charges related to some of those IEDs here in an Arizona courtroom this year. The Show spoke with him more about that case and how it’s only part of a broader effort in American courtrooms to hold someone accountable for all of those deaths.