sj2
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response 28 of 31:
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Nov 25 17:43 UTC 2003 |
Re #24
During 43 days of war in 1991, the US flew 109,876 sorties and dropped
84,200 tons of bombs. Average monthly tonnage of ordnance used nearly
equaled that of World War II
( Airpower in the Gulf War, Air and Space Power Mentoring Guide Essays
II, pp. 72-73 (U.S. Air Force 1999)
Ninety-three per cent of munitions used by the allies consisted of
unguided dumb bombs, dropped primarily by Vietnam-era B-52 carpet-
bombers. About 70 per cent of bombs and missiles missed their targets,
frequently destroying private homes and killing civilians.
(John MacArthur, Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf
War, 1993, p. 161)
On Dec. 16, 1998, fighters and bombers from the British RAF and U.S.
Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps launched a devastating air assault on
Iraq under the codename "Operation Desert Fox." The four-day bombing
blitz launched more cruise missiles than were fired during Operation
Desert Storm.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14263
The 2003 war was *better*. 650 civilians killed with 4600 tonnes of
bombs dropped. Unfortunately, Civilians killed, per 10,000 tonnes of
bombs, rose from ~400 in 1991 to ~1350 in 2003. So much for precision
and so much for being *upfront and personal*.
When *precision* bombing Really isn't: The evil, the grotesque and the
official lies.
by Marc W. Herold
Departments of Economics and Women's Studies
Whittemore School of Business & Economics
University of New Hampshire
http://www.cursor.org/stories/iraq.html
Tod, but I guess people like you have *unfailing* belief in your
politicians and military commanders.
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