-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
It was a jab at Cheney's pale complexion and rotund body....though I could say as much for Karl Rove, I suppose.
What's with Republicans anyway? A party of middle-aged, fat, rich white bastards.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Jason, that is what I fired in the army, mortars, 11C is the MOS, 4.2in/107mm and 81mm.
WP isn't like napalm, but it does burn in to the skin and not go out, till you smother it anyway. Something like desert sand would work nicely....
I am not defending the danger close firing in to civilian areas, but firing them at night, moonlite nights, still helps with obsurement. The part that would cause the problem is the adjustment of the rounds, to get them on target, by means of bracketing. It is very rare that you get a first round on target, so even if the actual target is not particularly close to civilian areas rounds can get in to them.
Mortars are very accurate, after you have them aimed, but getting them aimed can be a bitch for a newly trained FO, Forward Observer, or a barely trained person. Some MPs received basic FO training when I was serving. This, compounded with the nearness of civilians, should have had the commanding officer a bit reluctant to use these weapons. Mk19 grenade lauchers, and regular hand grenades, can be employed to do the same thing, with both WP and CS as options.
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
An intresting article on Williams here. Just shows that this kind of crap is status quo for the Republicans (though it would not suprise me to learn elements in both parties are doing this).
Ritten, thanks for the info- I did not know they were that common in the US arsensal (the mortars). I still have to wonder why the Pentagon was so adamant about them not being used, unitll faced with evidence to the contrary.
No matter how "accurate" the mortars are though, I dont think firing them (at night!) into a civillian population center is at all justified.
-It's not like the people there would know what set them/ their house on fire in any case- "smothering" the flames wont work in a big fire and the local fire departments are hardly up to spec.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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