What kind of weapon

[DoYouEverWonder]

does this?

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/net/20060804/large.32b22e4623d151ea649a2d381dbb88de.pjpeg

Smoke and fire rises after an Israeli airstrike hit the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon

Is this some kind of fuel/air explosive? Bunker buster? Something else?

Why are weapons like this being used in residential areas?

[leftchick]

1. because Hezbollah is HIDING there!!!!!

:sarcasm: :puke:

[dbt]

2. The PROFITABLE kind.

GE: We bring good things to Death. Be sure to watch Team Coverage of ALL bu$h's wars on your NBC station!

:argh:
dbt
Remember New Orleans

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

4. Do you remember during the beginning of the Iraq war...

...when CNN was running these goofy spinning 3-d models of all of our weapons (and some of Iraq's) listing capabilities, etc? Talk about war-as-video-game.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. I'm pretty sure standard munitions will do that.

Also, it's impossible to tell whether the fireball is from the munition itself, or whatever it hit (fuel tank, ammo dump, etc.)

Not sure about the debris... Can anybody comment on whether fuel-air type explosives will throw debris that far?

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. I guess it depends on what you define has standard now a days?

Bunker busters and fuel air bombs are now considered by the US to be 'standard' weapons that according to their definition are legal. Since collective punishment of civilian populations is illegal to begin with, trying to legitimize the choice of weapons to deliver that collection punishment is to be expected.

One thing we can't tell from the picture is whether or not the fire ball is from the weapon itself or if they hit a fuel tank or something similar, so I will admit that with just one picture, we may not be able to determine what kind of weapon was used.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

6. Hasn't it already been established...

...that the IDF was using cluster munitions on populated areas? If you want a clear-cut case of illegal use of weapons, that is it. Though I haven't heard much about it since it was reported by whoever (HRW?) Everybody loves playing with semantics when it comes to fuel-air weapons, but you can't play the same games with cluster munitions.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Good point

I just read an article this morning about the cluster munitions. I'll try to find the link for you.

Are there any pictures of them being used or of the little gifts they leave behind? The world needs to see pictures. It didn't happen if you don't have a picture of it. That's one of the reasons why I try to draw attention to the fuel/air bombs and bunker busters that are being used. The M&M loves to publish pictures of them going off. They make for such 'great' visuals.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Found the thread

--Weapons loaded with ball bearings would seem designed to be anti-personnel weapons, and their use has been condemned by human rights organizations because of their wide and imprecise blast range (Human Rights Watch, 7/18/06). But cluster bombs, which likewise have a wide and imprecise blast range, pose an even deadlier threat to civilians, as they can spread hundreds of "bomblets" that become "de facto antipersonnel landmines" (Human Rights Watch, 3/03). Amnesty International called the use of cluster bombs by the U.S. in civilian areas of Iraq "a grave violation of international humanitarian law" (4/2/03).

And some doctors and Lebanese officials believe that injuries in Lebanon indicate the use of incendiary weapons such as white phosphorus (Inter Press Service, 7/28/06; Agence France Presse, 7/30/06). White phosphorus causes severe and deep burns to the skin and cannot be extinguished with water; the New York Times once called it (3/22/95) one of "the worst chemical weapons" in existence. Israel's use of such weapons would not be without precedent; Human Rights Watch reported in 1996 (5/96) that there was "compelling" evidence that Israel used phosphorus weapons against civilians in its 1982 and 1983 attacks on Southern Lebanon. (The U.S. has admitted to using white phosphorus as a weapon in Iraq; see Extra!, 3-4/06--

Full article: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2931


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1816658

[Richard Steele]

16. Yup. That's just an ordinary everyday bomb blast there-nothing "special".

I can comment on your "fuel/air explosive" question:

ANY explosion will throw debris; but I'm gonna say that ISN'T
a fuel/air device in the photo, because no modern military uses
fuel/air bombs THAT SMALL.

A fuel/air detonation would fill the entire viewfinder in that photo.
Those things are BIG.

[DoYouEverWonder]

18. Sounds like they've got smaller ones

that they've been using in Iraq and Afghanistan.


MARINES QUIET ABOUT BRUTAL NEW WEAPON

War is hell. But it’s worse when the Marines bring out their new urban combat weapon, the SMAW-NE. Which may be why they’re not talking about it, much. This is a version of the standard USMC Shoulder Mounted Assault Weapon but with a new warhead. Described as NE - "Novel Explosive"- it is a thermobaric mixture which ignites the air, producing a shockwave of unparalleled destructive power, especially against buildings.

This is a version of the standard USMC Shoulder Mounted Assault Weapon but with a new warhead. Described as NE - "Novel Explosive"- it is a thermobaric mixture which ignites the air, producing a shockwave of unparalleled destructive power, especially against buildings.

A post-action report from Iraq describes the effect of the new weapon: "One unit disintegrated a large one-storey masonry type building with one round from 100 meters. They were extremely impressed." Elsewhere it is described by one Marine as "an awesome piece of ordnance."

It proved highly effective in the battle for Fallujah. This from the Marine Corps Gazette, July edition: "SMAW gunners became expert at determining which wall to shoot to cause the roof to collapse and crush the insurgents fortified inside interior rooms."

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001944.html

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Picture yourself a resident of Beirut.

Can somebody define terrorism for me in a resonable manner that does not include the organization responsible for what is shown in that picture?

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. That's my problem

I can picture myself in Beirut. I have way to much empathy for humans I've never even met I suppose?

I find it appalling to listen to people who talk about bombing civilian populations as if it is nothing and then rationalize all the reasons why there really is no other choice. Besides it all their fault, so they deserve it. :puke:

[malaise]

11. This is the perfonification of

terrorism. I am currently watching news on Lebanese TV (LBC America. THey are showing the demonstration in Beirut. One woman has a poignant poster with a large photo of Bush and Hitler side by side. Her caption -Same shit, different day.

They are showing IDF soldiers moving through people's homes. You have got to see the destruction they are showing - no other station has come close to this. This fucking madness must stop. Ceasefore NOW

By the way Condi has been sidlined as David Welsh is now in Beirut.

I wish nothing but a painful end to all the planet's leaders who have allowed this massacre to continue.

[kentuck]

12. A Katyusha rocket?

"Little Katie"...?

[Buzz Clik]

14. good point.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Katyusha rockets have a warhead of about 20kg of explosives

I'd be surprised if 20kg could produce a fireball well over 100 feet high, and smoke/debris about 300 feet in the air.

[Buzz Clik]

13. You guys are being careful to be consistent, right?

I agree that it's wrong for Israel to target civilian areas, but you guys are joining me in condemning Hezbollah's hideous behavior, right? Launching rockets from the middle of a neighborhood and then driving away to let the innocent take the brunt of the reprisal is subhuman, as is targeting civilian areas with no military objective.

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. Sort of like comparing peashooters

with nukes?

[SPKrazy]

19. Until That "Peashooter" Kills Someone

then it is all relative

Katyusha's are not "peashooters"

they aren't accurate, but they can kill and they do so somewhat randomly

nobody is using "nukes" yet thank God

[scarletwoman]

20. Hizballah is NOT launching rockets from Beirut!

Hizballah's rockets are being fired from Southern Lebanon. For one thing their rockets don't have the range to fire into Israel from Beirut, for another, all the Hizballah commanders left Beirut at the very start of the Israeli attack.

Israel is destroying all the Shi'ite neighborhoods in Beirut because since they are Shi'ites, they might be Hizbollah supporters. There are no actual Hizbollah fighters there and they know it. This is a terror campaign, nothing less.

sw