Financial Daily from THE
HINDU group of publications
Friday, Jan 24, 2003
Thermobaric bombs and hellfires
Timeri N. Murari
When We At Last Grieve All Loss Divine Life One People Image God
We Will No Longer Patronize The Lords of War
Never-ending newspaper stories
Falling Sky Raising Hell...
...Bro Has Gone Nuts
One enthusiast,
Daniel Goure of the Lexington Institute,
has been quoted as saying:
"The
combination of US air and ground power is truly unstoppable"
"The combination of US air and ground power is truly unstoppable"
"The
combination of US air and ground power is truly unstoppable"
"This
is it — the Roman legions, the German panzers"
"This is it — the Roman legions, the German panzers"
"This
is it — the Roman legions, the German panzers"
Truly unstoppable. This will be a
shock wave, a ten on the Richter scale, in its effect on the region
" Of course in Vietnam, the Americans also had the then hi-tech weapons against
a primitive force.
But that's another story. What's going to happen to the US and world's
economy?
Forget it. That's not on President Bush's agenda at the moment.
And what about the Iraqi civilians — men, women and children — who get in the
way of these hi-tech bombs?
They're just collateral damage.
It happens in a war
Woman Kind Balance Nature Unto Creation God Helpmate
Man Sho New. . . . .
Divine Plan Where are You? Why Are You Silent?
Praising DOD Red Neck Bully Men Take Our Civilization Only Four Horse Armageddon
War As Designed Roman God Empire Faith
Empire Personification Savior Julius Christ Jesus Caesar Great Booty Church
Roman War Global Quest Only War War Divine End
On The Barrel God Get Out The Way We Demand Salvation Armageddon War In
The Name o God Thermobaric Global Warming Now
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| I WATCHED the last Gulf War from a safe distance — on television. That
was when the Chicken Noodle Network became the powerful CNN. They had their
cameras all over Baghdad and we watched Scud missiles whizzing past windows,
taking the corners and supposedly hitting their targets.
Being all new hi-tech weaponry, of course, they didn't quite work. I'm not a great believer in hi-tech reliability as my computer can suddenly do weird things without my touching the keys. The Gulf War was an arms-length war, the missiles were launched from a thousand miles out at sea by US destroyers and battleships, and fighter jets took off from aircraft carriers too far away for any Iraqi counter-offensive. When all the smoke and rubble settled, Saddam was, and is still, there. Well, if you thought that war was a great fireworks display, the next one coming up will be even more hi-tech. The great military machine hasn't been sitting idle, twiddling its thumbs. The American industrial-military complex has been very busy. Even since the very recent Afghan `war', the weapons have become even more hi-tech. To gather intelligence, the US and Israelis have already infiltrated men into Iraq to locate missile sites. And even if they miss any, new radar-equipped satellites can differentiate between a bus and a tank through thick clouds of dust or whatever. The speed of information back to the weapons systems has also increased. In that Gulf War, it took a few days to get the information back but since Kosovo and Afghanistan, the intelligence gets back in minutes. So what will those fingers-on-the-trigger unleash on Iraq? The Americans have tested the JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) in Afghanistan. This system converts unguided bombs into smart ones by using global positioning satellite co-ordinates sent by the ground to bomber pilots. The JDAMs and another relation, the GBU-28 (Guided Bomb Unit) will be used extensively in the coming war. The GBU-28 is the `bunker blaster' bomb. It can be programmed, using a new gadget called a hard-target fuse, to penetrate hardened underground facilities, and explode a thousand pounds of high explosives at the pre-determined depth. The fuse can also tell the difference between concrete and earth and can whiz through even four or five layers of concrete to reach its target before detonating. If Saddam believes he can protect his chemical stockpile, he can forget it. The Americans have developed a Thermobaric bomb that can also penetrate bunkers and, when it explodes, it will generate immense heat and pressure, enough to destroy any anthrax or smallpox germs. They dropped one of these bombs in Afghanistan, but it missed its target! Admittedly, I wasn't aware that the Taliban were also busy making chemical weapons. I thought AK-47s were as hi-tech as they got. However, a sceptical American weapons expert, Michael Levi of the Federation of American Scientists, believes that the Thermobaric bombs won't be able to penetrate heatproof shields. And, like me, he doesn't believe this hi-tech stuff is as reliable or as accurate as the enthusiasts believe. The Americans also have a brand new gadget, just off the shelf, called the Microwave bomb. This one explodes in mid-air and releases electromagnetic pulses that will burn out any electrical systems — transformers, computers, telephones, televisions — within its range. The pulses will also penetrate underground. The CIA has its own new toy, the Predator, an unmanned plane. The Predator can carry and launch missiles from very high altitudes, and that's how the Americans killed a senior Al Qaeda leader in Yemen a few weeks back. The US army has also been given a brand new weapon — the Apache Longbow — which is supposedly a huge improvement on the old Apache attack helicopter. It will be armed with an anti-tank guided missile, the Hellfire. The Hellfire has a sheet of copper that melts on impact and penetrates the tank, destroying anything and everyone inside it. The Apache Longbow will carry 16 Hellfires and it has its radar mounted above the `copter blades, so that it can just peek above a hill and fire its Hellfires. The enthusiasts believe one Apache Longbow could destroy a battalion of tanks. One enthusiast, Daniel Goure of the Lexington Institute, has been quoted as saying: "The combination of US air and ground power is truly unstoppable. This is it — the Roman legions, the German panzers. Truly unstoppable. This will be a shock wave, a ten on the Richter scale, in its effect on the region." Of course in Vietnam, the Americans also had the then hi-tech weapons against a primitive force. But that's another story. What's going to happen to the US and world's economy? Forget it. That's not on President Bush's agenda at the moment. And what about the Iraqi civilians — men, women and children — who get in the way of these hi-tech bombs? They're just collateral damage. It happens in a war. (Contact the writer at: tnmurari@hotmail.com) Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication
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By
Jonathan Marcus |
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US officials have acknowledged that they have used at least two of the so-called thermobaric weapons in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
The weapons create a huge pressure wave which effectively sucks the air out of the lungs of anyone unfortunate enough to be within range.
But the principles behind this weapon are not new and similar weaponry was employed extensively by Russian forces during the battle for Grozny in Chechnya.
This new thermobaric bomb is one of the most recent weapons in the Pentagon's armoury.
The US used the bombs to attack targets near Gardez
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As the name implies, it works on a combination of heat and pressure applying lessons that have been widely learnt from coal mine explosions or other industrial accidents. These are often created by clouds of gas or fine particles erupting into flame.
The thermobaric weapon reproduces this situation to order, distributing a very fine cloud of explosive material throughout the target which is then ignited.
The heat and pressure effects are formidable - soldiers caught in the blast could have the air sucked from their bodies and even their internal organs catastrophically destroyed.
Thermobaric weapons are closely related to so-called fuel-air explosives - where the explosive cloud is provided by a volatile gas or liquid.
Military targets
Such weapons were widely used by Russian forces laying siege to the city of Grozny some two years ago.
Rather than air-delivered bombs, the Russian army employed 30-barrel large calibre rocket launchers firing a fuel-air explosive warhead to level the city block-by-block.
The pressure effect from the warheads killed many people sheltering in the cellars of collapsed buildings, including many civilians.
These are, by any standards horrible weapons, but US spokesmen insist that in Afghanistan they are being employed solely against military targets.
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March 26, 2002 Posted: 10:00 PM EST (0300 GMT)
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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan officials have said that an accurate death count may be weeks away after a devastating earthquake in the mountains of northeastern Afghanistan, where early reports indicated the town of Nahrin may have been destroyed.
Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, said that 1,800 people died in the magnitude 6 quake, but other officials said the number could be as high as 5,000. Thousands more were reported injured, and an estimated 30,000 homes were destroyed in the remote region.
Karzai cancelled a trip to Turkey that had been scheduled for Thursday to remain in Afghanistan and coordinate the response to the disaster.
Kevin Kennedy, a U.N. emergency response official, said two food convoys arrived in the region early Wednesday and that a health clinic has been established in the hardest hit region to help those with injuries. Aid agencies were also distributing tents and blankets.
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"I think the U.N. does a lot of things well. This is one of them. We have been involved unfortunately in several earthquakes in Afghanistan over the years, but this would appear to be the most severe in the last 15 or 16 years," Kennedy said.
A Pentagon spokesman said that commanders of U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan were also working with local officials on ways to help the relief effort.
Many of the buildings that were destroyed in the earthquake were built in the same way structures had been erected over the last few centuries.
Powerful aftershocks, treacherous terrain and winter weather hindered rescue parties on the slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains in Baghlan province, and kept communications to a minimum, the officials said.
A U.S. Army assessment team headed to the earthquake-ravaged region to see what the military can offer in terms of assistance, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said.
"The team will have a better idea of what we can do when daylight comes on Wednesday," said CentCom spokesman Maj. Brad Lowell.
The quake's epicenter, about 90 miles north of Kabul, is a seven-hour overland ride. A French aid agency has sent 2,000 blankets and 1,000 tents, but that is far below what will be needed.
A powerful earthquake struck the same region in the 1998, killing about 7,000 people.
U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, said that the United States stood ready to help Afghanistan's interim government, which has been on its feet only about three months and is ill-prepared to deal with the scope of the disaster.
"We will provide assistance to the interim authority and local Afghans in dealing with this tragedy," Khalilzad said.
There were no reports that U.S. troops stationed at Bagram Air Base near Kabul and in Kandahar being injured.
CRS responds to Afghanistan earthquake
As rescue efforts fade and relief activities intensify in northeastern
Afghanistan's Baghlan province, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is sending a
variety of relief items to the leveled Nahrin district, where an estimated
30,000 - 50,000 people are homeless after a series of earthquakes and
aftershocks rocked the area March 26. Between 1,200 and 5,000 are feared dead
because of the earthquakes, which centered in the Hindu Kush Mountains, about 75
miles north of the capital, Kabul. The strongest of the earthquakes measured 6.0
on the Richter Scale and was felt as far away as Peshawar and Islamabad,
Pakistan.
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Wed., Dec. 31, 2003 11:09 p.m.
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Majid / Getty Images
Iranian men carry the body of an earthquake victim to a grave
Tuesday in Bam.
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BAM, Iran - As survivors of Iran’s earthquake
scavenged for clothes and jostled for handouts Tuesday, President Mohammad
Khatami thanked the United States for aid but played down talk that
Washington’s contribution would thaw frosty relations.
Khatami’s remarks came after Secretary of State Colin Powell said he
sees a “new attitude” in Iran that could lead to a restoration of ties
between the United States and the Islamic republic that President Bush has
called part of an “axis of evil."
“There are things happening, and therefore we should keep open the
possibility of dialogue at an appropriate point in the future,” Powell
was quoted as saying in Tuesday’s Washington Post.
Iranian leaders have agreed to permit unannounced inspections of the
country’s nuclear energy program and made overtures to moderate Arab
governments. They also accepted an offer of U.S. humanitarian aid after
last week’s devastating magnitude-6.6 earthquake.
Powell lauds 'new attitude'
“All of those things taken together show, it seems to me, a new attitude
in Iran in dealing with these issues — not one of total, open
generosity, Powell said. “But they realize that the world is watching
and the world is prepared to take action.
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Never-ending newspaper stories
Timeri N. Murari
WHEN I am out of the country, I always check the Indian press. I do this only to find out if any dramatic change has occurred while my back was turned. Unfortunately, I am always disappointed. I had an e-mail from an American friend who used to live in India and it turns out that he also checks up on the Indian press frequently.
The other day he sent me a mail with the melancholy question: "Why doesn't anything change? I am reading the same stories I read a year back, two years back." Like me, he has every right to wonder. Our daily diet of front page stories appears to have been re-cycled daily, with just a few variations. Ayodhya is the longest running soap. I cannot even remember now when it started.
This century, the last, the one before? It will probably run into the next century as well. In the year 3004, the papers and television, will be reporting further "news" on the Ayodyha issue.
I hope that the present day participants will not be around. However, you can never tell about Indian politicians. They seem to live forever and never shut up for even an instant. We keep going round and round in circles over this Ram temple story. Pundits, politicians, clerics, archaeologists and nearly everyone else who can get his foot into the story are quoted at great length. Ram lived, he did not live; a Hindu temple's beneath the mosque, there is not a temple beneath the mosque.
Does the fate of one billion people hang on this single issue? Probably, I am in the minority but in this complex country there are far more pressing issues. I won't even list them, as they would fill up an encyclopaedia of our more important needs. If Ayodhya does not distract the majority of us, unfortunately it distracts our ruling political class from addressing our problems.
The second longest running soap is the Bofors case. Every time I breathe a sigh of relief that it has slipped off the front page, it bounces back. It is now 20 years since it began and we still have not been able to resolve it. It took the US Senate and Congress a week to decide whether to impeach President Clinton or not. When they decided on "not", that finished the story finally. Impeaching a President is not taken lightly in the States. But they reached a decision. Here, we have special courts for the Bofors, special courts for other crimes, special courts for corruption.
It seems as if there are more special courts than our existing courts. Not that anything moves any faster than our normal judicial system. In the Bofors case, the Hinduja brothers have not even been tried yet, despite all the courts.
When you consider that the black money circulating in India is equivalent to 40 per cent of our GDP, according to a recent economic report, I have to wonder about chasing after Rs 64 crore, if that was the kickback. I do understand the necessity of justice in this very unjust country but I do wish it would speed up. At the present rate of progress, this will be another story that could stutter on into the next century. Although I doubt any of the protagonists will be alive. They are not Indian politicians who have discovered the elixir of life through power and corruption. When a British journalist friend recently asked me: "Does India have a foreign policy?" I had to admit that I doubted it. He was a great supporter of India and was baffled that we did not take a great interest in foreign affairs.
That is, apart from Pakistan. This country appears to be our only foreign policy and everything else is peripheral. It is on our front page, centre pages, foreign page, back page. If Pakistan vanished overnight, the papers would have chunks of white columns and our foreign office would have to be disbanded.
My friend wanted India to lead the Commonwealth, play a greater role in Asia and Europe. We make fitful efforts then tiredly lapse back to our one-track foreign policy. Every time our FM, HM or PM makes a remark about Pakistan, it makes our front pages. Admittedly, these are the longest running stories, with Pakistan a clear winner. Trailing badly in fourth place is our inability to make up our political minds on liberalisation. Since the reforms were gently pushed forward 20 years back, we keep going back and forwards on liberalisation. One day we are for it, the next day we are against it.
One day Air India will be privatised, the next day it will remain an ailing government enterprise. I have no idea how foreign companies and business people deal with such a fluctuating economic policy. It probably drives them away to China. I am sure, this one too will continue into 3000 A.D.
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