The last use of carpet-bombing (defined as the use of immense quantities of unguided bombs to attack and devastate a large area) was, to the best of my knowledge, against entrenched Iraqi positions during Operation Desert Storm 14 years ago. Nearly all of the bombing done during Operation Iraqi Freedom has involved much smaller numbers of precision-guided weapons, which minimize the damage done to items and people near the target.

But why let facts get in the way of a cheap slam against Bush?

J.

One man's carpet bombing is another man's Shock And Awe.Tell the dead civilians it's OK because it was a precision guided missile that killed them and not a carpet bombing.Or maybe I should have said "Unless we're dropping Uranium Bombs on Brown People." I could have used the "Executing Brown People in The State of Texas" punchline, but that's using State Dollars, not Federal, so I guess that makes the hypocrisy OK? But why let hypocrisy get in the way of being a Bush apologist?

One of the wisest pieces of advice I've ever heard was "if you want to appear smart, speak only about matters you know about." Conversely, one of the best ways to appear an idiot is to talk about matters that you know little about.

"Uranium bombs?" Uranium has, to the best of my knowledge, two uses in the modern military. The first, as a key fissile component of a nuclear weapon, has largely fallen by the wayside in favor of far more efficient transuranic isotopes (that means artificial elements, as uranium is the last "natural" element on the periodic chart).

I suspect you're referring to the use of depleted uranium, used both in armor and armor-piercing munitions. I'll presume you mean its use in the offensive, as your context tends to indicate that.

To the best of my knowledge (and while I'm no expert, I'm comfortable presuming it's greater than yours) DU is not being used in "bombs." It is used in projectiles (the 120mm cannon of the Abrams tank uses them, as do the 25mm and 30mm autocannons used on smaller vehicles such as Bradleys and Humvees, I think). It is also, I think, used by the Navy for its 76mm and 127mm (also known as the 3" and 5" guns) cannons on board ships. And it may also be used for the 20mm and 30mm cannons on Air Force jets.

But using it on a "bomb?" That would be a waste. A "bomb" is an unpowered, gravity-propelled device. Using one in an armor-piercing role would be foolish; it would be much smarter to use a missile, which (being self-propelled) would impart much more kinetic energy on the target. The effectiveness of armor-piercing weapons are derived from density, mass, and speed; bombs are inherently limited in speed by air drag.

Now, as for your little "shock and awe." Here's a little hint: corpses experience neither. That term was a reference to a psychological tactic, to discourage people from fighting. Or would you have preferred the classic approaches, such as "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out?"

Criticize the policy-makers all you like. But when you start deriding those who plan and carry out their directives, in direct obedience to their oath to the Constitution, and you just might force me to do the unthinkable.

I might have to question your patriotism.

J.

Jay,
Thanks for the tutorial on the semantics of military definitions. However, the cartoon featured Bush, the policy maker, and no one else, so I guess you can't question my patriotism just yet as there was no deriding of those who carry out the directives of Bush.
Good day to you.

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

URL:
Remember me? YesNo

Subscribe to this comment thread.

Comments: