What the hell is a "punishment bombing" anyway??

[redgreenandblue]

My understanding of military matters is that normally there is some sort of objective, like "conquer/defend territory X" or "stop X from doing Y". A "punishment bombing" seems like it is intrinsicly void of such an objective.

In other words, what it seems to mean is simply "make a pile of dead people". It seems a lot like such a thing would constitute a crime under international law. Actually, what it sounds a lot like is a terrorist attack.

[MNBrewer]

1. It similar to "freedom shrapnel"

[polichick]

3. Perfect! So sad but I couldnt help laughing.

[enlightenment]

4. +1

million.

[polichick]

2. It's the mic being paid for their work so they can do more.

[Jefferson23]

5. For me it represents a horrible excuse to do someting you have no right to do

in the first place. So sad to see this represented as a humanitarian strike.

[daleo]

6. They used to be called bomb-agrams, in the 60s and 70s

The Brits called them punitive missions during their empire days. I don't know what phrase the Romans used.

[KurtNYC]

11. "Decimate"

The literal meaning: to kill every tenth person

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_%28Roman_army%29

[daleo]

12. Those Romans had a word for everything.

[NightWatcher]

7. Pointlessly fuck some shit up and kill with no goal

Just like our past few wars, this has no goals or objectives. It's just bombing for the sake of bombing.

[Jesus Malverde]

8. The other new meme is "violation of international norms"

Seeing as Syria is not a signatory to the convention on CW, we have to use a non treaty excuse and pretend it's legal.

In the absence of law, you have norms.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Vigilante justice while waving flag.

[Motown_Johnny]

10. An attempt to diminish his ability to deploy chemical weapons.

In this case it would be hitting missile launchers and artillery.


The main idea behind it is to make any use of chemical weapons a net negative. In war you try to inflict damage on your enemy while preventing your enemy from inflicting damage on you. If deploying chemical weapons guarantees that you will receive more damage than you deal out then using those weapons ceases to be a viable option.