Air Weapons: March 29, 2003

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Many in the military are wondering why the new MOAB bomb has not been used in Iraq. The rumor is that the only one available was the one used in the live test earlier in the month. But there aren't many targets for the MOAB. Some call it the "humane bomb," as nearly all bombs of this type (the earlier BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter") have been used to clear helicopter landing zones or minefields. In Iraq it would be more useful for it's psychological effect. A MOAB going off in a dusty landscape tends to create a visual effect similar to that of an atomic bomb. There's something about a mushroom cloud billowing up in the suburbs of Baghdad that sends a certain kind of message.

 

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