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New US Superbomb

11:14 / 12.03.03

This cannot bode well ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2842619.stm

Quote from BBC Article: "The United States Air Force says it has successfully tested a powerful new bomb at a military base in the southern state of Florida.

The Moab - short for massive ordnance air bust - weighs in at nearly 9500 kilograms (21,000-pounds) and is the most powerful conventional weapon in the US arsenal.

The bomb spreads a flammable mist over the target and then ignites it, creating a highly destructive blast, which experts say packs the force of a small nuclear bomb.

It is unclear whether the bomb would be used against Iraqi targets in the event of a US-led war, but the BBC's Pentagon correspondent Nick Childs says it is clear from the significant timing of the test that the US is engaged in a psychological warfare campaign against the Iraqi military. "

Why not just go back to the time when a champion from each side was chosen, they battled it out and the winner took all. OK, so I know that doesn't work, but neither will this ... except to kills us all.

13:05 / 12.03.03

Ah yes the good ol' Mother Of All Bombs
I saw Rumsfeld yesterday talkin about it on CNN. He said they were hoping to use it in an area without any inhabitants in a way that the mere sight of it going off would awe the opposing forces and cause many of them to surrender. I like that Idea. DO I thnk there's even the remotest chance of that happening? Nope. Nyet. Nada. Nilch.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:10 / 12.03.03

Rogue states with weapons of mass destruction, y'say?

Nope. Nobody here but us chickens.

13:38 / 12.03.03

Interesting name. Is it just me or does anyone think they intended an old testament connection to the land of Moab?

In the Bible, Moab is were Moses died and was buried.

Moab is also the place the Israelites attacked the city of Jericho from. "And the walls came tumbling down?

14:20 / 12.03.03

Who cares what its called! Its big and nasty, probably disgustingly expensive and kills people! What a civilised bunch we all are in the West. Christ, somebody get me off this planet quick. In the immortal words of Brian Potter "The whole worlds gone mad!"

14:26 / 12.03.03

the tecnology isn't even all that exciting. It's just a bomb that's bigger than makes any sense.

Which is rather telling.

Poke it with a stick

14:40 / 12.03.03

Is it just me, or does it sound a hell of a lot like the bomb they were going to use at the end of Outbreak?
Hey, I'd rather they develop shit like this than keep going with the development of their "next generation" of nuclear devices (neutron bombs and the like).

15:38 / 12.03.03

See here: http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-2-88-1028.jsp

Apparently it's not *quite* a fuel-air explosive like the one at the end of Outbreak. And yes, I'd agree that it does seem likely it will eventually be used in a civillian area. Basically because my ideals have been ground down to the point where that's exactly the kind of shit I now expect.

16:00 / 12.03.03

I didn't read anything about a fallout with radiation so I guess that's the silver lining. It's probably just another form of psychological warfare. I've also heard that the U.S. has obtained the email addresses of Iraqi generals and are fucking with their minds by continuously sending warning emails.

Brigade du jour

20:33 / 12.03.03

Jesus Christ, no wonder they get boffins who never get any sex to design these things - I agree with Robin Williams - "if we can't fuck it, we'll kill it!"

01:32 / 13.03.03

Spell it backwards. It reads kinda how an inbred redneck shotgun-wielder would pronounce "bomb."

Morlock - groupie for hire

12:41 / 13.03.03

Nah, not nukuler, just a big fucking bomb. Very surgical.

The comparison to the IRA bombs is neat. Rogue nations holding WMD and supporting terrorist organisations? Naahhh, couldn't be.

A

01:46 / 15.03.03

The bomb will most likely to be used to take out a "chemical weapons plant", which turns out to be a pre-school, or hospital, or something, which will be a "regrettable error".

We're The Great Old Ones Now

09:30 / 15.03.03

I noticed the name thing, too - I seem to recall Moab was also a place where a demon of fire was worshipped. Real nice to have biblical names on your weapons, doesn't make the whole thing look like a crusade at all.

Incidentally, is this thing a fuel-air bomb? Daisy-cutters apparently aren't, according to Jane's, press mis-use of the term to the contrary.

Imaginary Mongoose Solutions

22:45 / 15.03.03

From everything I've read this isn't a fuel-air bombs, it's just a big mothefucking conventional bomb. Hell, I'm not a miltary ordinence expert by any means, but the footage of it going off dosen't resemble the F-A's I've seen go off at all.

Brigade du jour

20:09 / 16.03.03

'Mother of all bombs'. I wish the people that name these things would grow the fuck up. The people who make them, too.