Read more about Israel's new Christmas present from the U.S., the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) GBU-39.The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday [last week].
The missile, called GBU-39, was developed in recent years by the US as a small-diameter bomb for low-cost, high-precision and low collateral damage strikes. Israel received approval from Congress to purchase 1,000 units in September and defense officials said on Sunday that the first shipment had arrived earlier this month and was used successfully in penetrating underground Kassam launchers in the Gaza Strip during the heavy aerial bombardment of Hamas infrastructure on Saturday. It was also used in Sunday's bombing of tunnels in Rafah.
Initial reaction to the stunning reversal by the US Defense Department to go ahead and provide Israel with its number one request in weapons procurement has been mixed. Many look at the size of the bomb and dismiss it for the Iran mission, however as shown below the exact opposite is indeed the case.
In actuality, the Boeing designed SDB / GBU-39 is precisely what Israel needs should it undertake a dangerous Iranian mission.Here is a video about the new toy--the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)
Ever get the feeling we are all just being played?
Latest death toll in Gaza? 686.
Possible. Though there is no proof whatsoever that Iran has "underground nukes".
ReplyDeleteIsrael has begun it's stride down the path of self destruction. Much like the Nazis of '39, they will fall victim to their own paranoia and racist hatred.
And I will shed not one tear.
Why am I not surprised about the gift of these bombs to Israel? Are they doing the hands-on testing for us on this new advance in technology?
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned in a prior posting, the Presbyterian blogs are giving the Gaza offensive no coverage. Bring up homosexuality and O-8; comments on blogs reach 200+. While I support 0-8, this war trumps other concerns at this time. Our response: SILENCE.
Captain--you are right about Iran. The point is the perception that they have them.
ReplyDeleteJohnM--people in the church think this is about religion, ethnicity, and getting along. They miss the global political reality.
Here is how I see it. Issues regarding religion and ethnicity are distractions. We focus on good and bad, who is right and who is wrong and miss the bigger issues. This is intentional.
Israel is for practical purposes a military outpost in the Middle East.
This assault on Gaza is a U.S. assault on Gaza. It is largely a weapons practice and a statement to the world (Iran, China) that we have big toys and love using them.
The next 20-30 years will see major resource wars for fossil fuels. The U.S. needs more than its share. Other nations want some of it, too.
Wars are always over resources and are always presented in such a way that they are not over resources, but over weird abstractions like freedom and justice and good and evil.
Because people in the U.S. benefit from our lopsided consumption of resources, it is best not to look this gift horse in the mouth.
We are especially prone to being comforted by illusions of good and evil. We are moral and have Jesus in our hearts--how can we be so concerned by earthly things such as material goods?
This is why my Presbyterian colleagues have nothing to say.
The truth is too painful. We have made a deal with our leaders and the church is its broker. Keep the stuff coming. We won't ask hard questions and we will justify it through religious bullshit.
We are depraved. That SOB Calvin might have been right.
"We are depraved. That SOB Calvin might have been right."
ReplyDeleteHeh. :)
To your original question, I think that the Israelis may be setting themselves up for another humiliation. The aborted invasion of Lebanon a couple years ago was arguably the first major military defeat the IDF ever suffered. Part of Israel's security has been the impression it gave its neighbors after the 1967 and Yom Kippur Wars that it was invincible (an impression not hindered by the steady stream of American arms and the near certainty of Israel being a nuclear state). Now, it looks like Israel's weakness (as America's, as was the USSR's) is guerrilla warfare. A VERY scary message to be sending. Ohlmert scares me. I don't think he's more nuts than Sharon or Netanyahu, but I do think he's trying to prove how tuff he is and that he is somehow worthy to be Sharon's successor.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I respect Barack Obama's restraint in not making major foreign policy proclamations until he's in office, but hot damn, January 20th cannot come soon enough. We're the only nation on earth that Israel will listen to.