General John Cambell goes before the Senate Armed Services Committee to testify today and some people are expecting tough questions about the shelling (not some smart bomb screwup of co-ordinates) of the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz.
Personally I don't think anything like that will happen, but if you want to light up the phones this morning the members are John McCain, Arizona, Chair; Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma; Jeff Sessions, Alabama; Roger Wicker, Mississippi; Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire; Deb Fischer, Nebraska; Tom Cotton, Arkansas; Mike Rounds, South Dakota; Joni Ernst, Iowa; Thom Tillis, North Carolina; Dan Sullivan, Alaska; Mike Lee, Utah; Lindsey Graham, South Carolina; and Ted Cruz, Texas; all Republicans.
Also Jack Reed, Rhode Island, Ranking Member; Bill Nelson, Florida; Claire McCaskill, Missouri; Joe Manchin, West Virginia; Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire; Kirsten Gillibrand, New York; Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut; Joe Donnelly, Indiana; Mazie Hirono, Hawaii; Tim Kaine, Virginia; Angus King, Maine; and Martin Heinrich, New Mexico; mostly Democrats.
Folks, an AC-130 is a direct fire, close support weapon. You see your target. From the Washington Post-
The aircraft that carried out the weekend attack was an AC-130 gunship, according to Army Gen. John Campbell, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan. Unlike jets, the AC-130 is a unique aircraft dedicated almost entirely to supporting special operations forces.
In order to make sure targeting and communication from the ground to the aircraft is as seamless as possible, every AC-130 flies with a liaison officer that has spent time as a special forces soldier on the ground.
While most jets streak across a target, moving quickly while dropping either bombs or firing fixed weapons like cannons or machine guns, the AC-130 essentially loiters over a target at around 7,000 feet (1.325 miles). It then flies overhead in a circle and fires from weapon ports mounted on the aircraft’s left side.
Unlike other military fixed-wing aircraft, an AC-130 is requested differently. While a jet requires a map coordinate to engage its target, the AC-130 relies on direction (a compass heading) and a distance to the enemy target from the friendly forces engaged on the ground. In short, it relies on visual targeting.
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“It’s a visual acuity aircraft,” said a U.S. close-air support pilot who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of his active duty status. “An AC-130 finds the friendly force then fires over their left or right shoulder.”
The pilot went on to add that an AC-130 does not enter enemy airspace and look for targets. It specifically has to be guided on to the target by a force on the ground and will fire only after identifying friendly and enemy forces, he said.
The aircraft, because of its large profile and the fact that it operates at low altitude, only flies close air support missions at night. Since it only works in the dark, the crew of roughly a dozen uses a number of infrared sensors and night vision devices to see and engage targets on the ground.
Almost everything else in the Washington Post report is a distraction or a lie. What this proves is they
knew they were attacking a well lit, fully identified hospital under the direction of a United States
Forward Air Controller or an Afghan Tactical Air Coordinator (maybe). That's how we roll. Hope you're proud that we deliberately murdered 12 Doctors and 10 patients including 3 children.
“An AC-130 finds the friendly force then fires over their left or right shoulder.”
The big question is, under what rules of engagement is this acceptable?