cluster bombs....should we be using them?

[danielson]

nice and current question....big who-ha over here about cluster bombs being used, as they supposedly kill lots of civillians.

basically im sure you;ve all seen the footage of a cluster bomb, but what it does is 1 big bomb spilitiong up into lots of different bombs which all rain down on the earth and explode taking out lightly armoured vehicles, people etc.

however a lot of them dont go off, and whe people step on them they blow up and kill them. apparently this is a design feature, not a flaw. however they are supposed to be very effective against troops

some people liken them to being air-dropped mines as people go and die after stepping on them. so what do you think....should we potentially interfere with the way our forces fight or should we keep using them (i was under the impressin they were being used in desert are but they are being used near kabul etc.)

thoughts?

 

[Citruscide]

Hmm... sure... why not? I don't think anyone would think twice about killing "our" civilians.

C

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Yes, War is War is War. They are not banned in warfare so they must be used. But I will say it is pretty messed up because they are yellow and the food packets from the food drops are yellow also. Think about it you go to get dinner and Boooom! At the very least they should change the colors on them. Or maybe it is a conspiracy and it was planned that way!

 

[danielson]

i think we should to....i'd just be very wary of dropping them near civillian areas which we are doing now.....escpecially aftre what you just said D-cup

but to put fowarda another arguement, sonce landmines are so 'bad' as once the war is over people still die, what makes cluster bombs any different to land mines. its what a lot of people are saying here?

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

i think we should to....i'd just be very wary of dropping them near civillian areas which we are doing now.....escpecially aftre what you just said D-cup

Well my only solution for the problem is to give each side in the war only fly swatters. Then wich ever side can stand the gayness of hiting each other with fly swatters will win. This way even woman and children can fight in war without worring about being killed!

 

[danielson]

yeah!.....time to start high altitiude drops of fly swatters

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

U.S. Warns Afghans of Yellow Cluster Bomblets
By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. radio broadcasts into Afghanistan (news - web sites) now include a safety warning: airdropped food parcels are square, unexploded cluster bombs are can-shaped, and both are yellow, so it is important to tell them apart.

``Attention people of Afghanistan!'' the broadcasts in Persian and Pashto say. ``As you may have heard, the Partnership of Nations is dropping yellow Humanitarian Daily Rations. The rations are square-shaped and are packaged in plastic. They are full of good nutritious, Halal food,'' prepared according to Islamic precepts.

``In areas far from where we are dropping food, we are dropping cluster bombs,'' the radio spots say, according to a transcript obtained on Monday.

``Although it is unlikely, it is possible that not every bomb will explode on impact. These bombs are a yellow color and are can-shaped ...

``Once again, we will not be using these bombs in areas near where we are dropping relief supplies. Please, please exercise caution when approaching unidentified yellow objects in areas that have been recently bombed.''

Cluster bombs are meant to hit so-called soft targets, including people and vehicles. Cluster bombs can contain many bomblets that disperse as they drop, and it is these that might be mistaken for food packages. Bomblets that fail to explode on impact could well blow up if disturbed on the ground.

The ones mentioned in the radio spot are cylindrical, measuring about 2.5 inches by 6.5 inches, some with a yellow ''tail'' on top. Each Humanitarian Daily Ration (HDR) is approximately 7 inches by 13 inches.

The radio warning is a departure from other broadcasts in the area delivered in a U.S. operation named ``Commando Solo.''

Transcripts of these broadcasts released earlier by the Pentagon (news - web sites) showed they were aimed at members of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, believed by Washington to be harboring Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and his al Qaeda guerrillas.

Washington holds bin Laden responsible for the Sept. 11 hijack attacks on the United States that killed some 4,800 people, and blames the Taliban for harboring him.

``When you decide to surrender, approach United States forces with your hands in the air,'' an earlier radio message said. ``Sling your weapons across your back, muzzle toward the ground. Remove your magazine and expel any rounds. Doing this is your only chance of survival.''

As of Monday, U.S. military planes had dropped some 960,000 HDR food packages on Afghanistan. The yellow-wrapped 2,000-calorie meatless bundles are a key propaganda component of President Bush (news - web sites)'s war against terrorism.

The Bush administration has stressed that the United States is not at war with the people of Afghanistan.

As airstrikes continued for a 23rd day on Monday, so did the delivery of airdropped HDRs, Defense Department officials said.

 

[Dillon35]

This would be better

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

This would be better

Hey, stop steeling my bit. I was the Nuke poster a couple of months ago! Get you own bit.

 

[Dillon35]

OR THIS!!!

 

[TxCollegeguy]

Yes we should use them....If your in the Killzone thats your fault for not getting out....Just like all the civilians in Somalia who kept walking in the direction of the fight when all those Rangers got in trouble...Those fuckers were killed as well

If you get caught up in a fight well fuck it...you can't do much about it...but if your in an Area known to have fighting then it's your bad


Wasn't the object of war to kill the enemy and all those in the way while having less of your people killed while trying to achieve your objectives

Dillion that last pic in your first series of pics was the Hydrogen bomb I think it was being exploded underneath my grandfathers Air Craft Carrier the Sarratoga I think

 

[manny78]

Of course they should they're especially effective against convoys and artillery groups. Those CBU-59 and 87 are sometimes better than normal bombs for small moving targets...

 

[Gorlim]

oh bohoo some innocent afghans might die. Like i give a shit.

 

[minion]

Smoke'em if ya got'em. Hell yeah use'em.
Don't stop there though. Hit'em with some of this too. http://www.iraqwar.org/Washbombs.htm
And what ever hard core shit that can be thought of.

 

[DamnRedneck]

Hell, whut the fuck good would they do? Shit, we used to throw them up in the air and watch 'em go off. They made a lot of noise but they didn't do nuthin' as far as causin' no damage. Shit, use a cherry bomb or some dynamite. That'll blow their asses up.

 

[Stillhere]

Hell yeah use them. These scumbags do not hesitate to use our 757's filled with innocent civilians as bombs.
Why ask?
Blast them!

 

[conan69]

I think we should make the whole middle east a fucking parking lot

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Bring back the Nepalm!

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning...." Duvall

 

[thebigugly]

GOD I love CBU's. Whating fuckers run outta their trucks, pop one right on top of thier head, raining little bomblets of death. YOU CAN RUN FUCKER, BUT YOU WILL DIE FOR YOUR COUNTRY

 

[bouncer]

Speaking with the wisdom of hindsight and experience I say yes use them.
I have seen them used by the Isreal airforce against armed elements moving through wadies in in south Lebanon. And their VERY effective.
One very very bad thing about them is that over time they rust and look just like rocks on the ground, now thats ok if their intended targets happen accross them again. However normally it's the innocents who get maimed, women, children and farmers.
I have seen countless children with missing limbs from clusterbomblets. I have nearly stepped on a few myself while moving through wadi's in South Lebanon, although it's reckoned it takes a little more than a step to ignite one.
So taking all this into account I'd still say use them

Bouncer

 

[bouncer]

Btw they look NOTHING like food parcels, that was a joke right ?.

Bouncer

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

No they have the same color of yellow on them. I don't now if they changed the color or what! But like I said mmm look yellow it's a food parcel and then Boom!!

 

[bouncer]

I'm more likely to get a depth charger from McDonalds !.

Bouncer

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

After all that and time, they finally decide to change the food ration color! lol bureaucracy at its best!


Rations, bomblets a different color

Thursday, April 3, 2003 Posted: 10:23 PM EST (0323 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- After concerns were raised about the potential of Iraqi children confusing yellow packets of food rations with yellow bomblets being dropped there, the color of all future food rations will be changed, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The official said the wrapping on existing ration packets will not be changed, but future rations will be in an apricot-colored packaging.

The rations are produced by a company contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense, and coalition forces then distribute them to people in Iraq.

The U.N. International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday urged coalition forces to change the color of the rations so that children would not confuse them with bomblets that might explode when opened.

While -- unlike bomblets -- the rations are not being air dropped, UNICEF said, "Children could still confuse the ration and the unexploded ordnance."

A similar situation arose in Afghanistan last year. The military distributed the same type of food rations in that country, which also were the same color as ordnance. The military eventually changed the wrapping of the Afghan rations to blue so as not to confuse civilians.

Bomblets are individual units of cluster bombs and are made of metal. They are shaped like a soft drink can and are packed with high explosives. Cluster bombs contain about 200 small so-called bomblets designed to scatter themselves over a large area, targeting troops and military vehicles.

 

[Baby Gorilla]

Not sure....

Cluster bombs do a lot of devastation, so you'd not want to use them near civilians unless you have no other choice.

 

[c-sharp minor]

Napalm those fuckers. Let'em melt.