My goodness, this is a HUGE bomb. Check out the damage it can inflict. There's a picture on the webpage. HUGE! http://msnbc.com/news/627086.asp Nov. 6 — Anti-Taliban forces said they captured several towns on Tuesday after U.S. warplanes cleared the way with intensive bombing. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld kept a cautious tone, telling reporters to expect “probes and pushes” along the front lines. “This is not going to be a steady march forward,” he said of the campaign, which now includes the use of the largest conventional weapon in the U.S. arsenal: 15,000-pound bombs that leave craters as wide as five football fields. RUMSFELD SAID he had no specifics about the claim by the opposition Northern Alliance, a key U.S. ally. “I like to let the dust settle,” he told reporters anxious to know about front-line developments. The Northern Alliance, which launched a three-pronged attack Sunday toward Mazar-e-Sharif, claimed to have seized the town of Ogopruk and two other villages in a predawn assault. The area is 45 miles south of Mazar-e-Sharif. “We attacked while the Americans were bombing,” spokesman Ashraf Nadeemem said via satellite telephone. “It was not only us who killed. It was mostly the Americans.” Some 300 Taliban troops were killed in five hours of fighting, and 300 others defected to the opposition, Nadeem said. But his account could not be independently verified, and both sides regularly exaggerate claims. Mazar-e-Sharif is an important northern crossroads that the rebels lost to the Taliban in 1998. Retaking it would open a major supply route for the Northern Alliance to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Despite the latest successes claimed by the opposition, they have not been able to make major advances toward Mazar-e-Sharif and remain well outside the city. A senior U.S. defense source told the Associated Press that it likely will take several more weeks to determine whether the Northern Alliance is capable of toppling the Taliban. If it is not, the source said, the United States may have to consider eventually committing large numbers of its own ground forces. ‘DAISY CUTTER’ BOMB The United States is hoping that the largest conventional weapon in its arsenal — the BLU-82 “daisy cutter” bomb — will give rebels a much-needed boost. Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Tuesday confirmed an NBC report that two of the bombs were dropped within the last week. “Their intent is to kill,” he said. He would not say exactly where they were used, but that they are “useful against troops in light defensive positions.” The 12-foot-long BLU-82 — whose nickname comes from the daisy-like pattern of destruction it leaves behind — is so enormous that the only way it can be delivered is to drop it by parachute out the back of a modified MC-130 cargo plane, according to its Pentagon specifications sheet. The bomb drops a watery mix of ammonium nitrate and aluminum with air and then uses a long probe to ignite it in a devastating explosion. The shock wave can be felt miles away. It is so powerful that U.S. forces used it to create instant helicopter landing pads after it was introduced in 1970 during the Vietnam War. It can also clear large minefields by detonating every mine with its massive concussive blast.
This is the fuel-air bomb that's usually used to clear landing sites in forested or jungle areas. It was also reportedly used in the Gulf War on several occasions against troop concentrations. It's like a really clean mini-nuke in its effects.
You can accomplish the same thing with a Winnebago with the crapper full. Just have to use a Molotov cocktail as the fuse.
This bomb would also be ideal for "sanitizing" a cave in Afghanistan. Theoretically, you detach the fusing/firing mechanisim before you drop it. Drop it on a crate delivery system. Move it towards a cave entrance (a large one). Attach the firing mechanism, set the timer, and get the hell out of there. Theoretically, it would suck all of the air out of a 8-10 mile radius cave complex (1-3 miles above ground) instantly, then incinerate everything. So, first everyone hiding in a cave would suffocate to death, and then they'd be burned to dust. I like this plan. It sounds much better than the other two plans I've heard so far: go in and get them (our people die this way), or pump sarin gas down the tunnels (illegal, unfair, etc) I like this new way of killing cavedwellers. They want to hide in their caves? Let them hide in their caves forever... As dust particles.
Wow, I agree with TREEMAN..... We sure as HELL do not need to be sending our troops in those caves that they know every corner of. Bomb them out of the caves...or lock them in there.... Treeman, You seem to have an extensive knowledge of military weaponry? Is it personal interest, work related or what?
Unfortunately, we've learned that during the winter civilians often use caves because of a severe lack of heating fuel. The # will be greater this year because of the destruction of power stations. I hope that we either: A. use intelligence to determine WHICH caves should be hit with precision or B. have a possible civilian casualty threshold that we don't exceed.
The Daisy Cutter method you suggested sounds basically identical to the sarin gas one. Of the 3, I'd prefer it if we sent our people down to get them by hand. If people have to die, I'd rather it be American soldiers whose job it is to risk death than some civilians who are trying to stay out of harm's way. Individual soldiers can make a more precise discrimination between enemy and civilian. And I suppose, if serious resistance is met in a particular cave, you may be justified in bombing it.
whoever attacked can easily say 'people shouldn't work in tall buildings and fly in airplanes'...the only difference would be if we didn't work in tall buildings we'd still probably be alive but if afghanis don't live in caves they'll freeze to death.
a is for afganistan b is for b42's c is for cave where bin laden is d is for daisy cutter ect... ect... the new alphabet chart for kindergardeners
