Syrian barrel bombs are bad enough, but does American militarism still have a firebomb fetish?
I naively thought the MSF hospital fire in Kunduz was the by-product of explosive bombs. Little did I suspect the US still goes for incendiaries. Fire bombs in WWII; napalm in Vietnam; now this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/...ml
While it is unclear what weapons were employed, the AC-130U’s 40mm round has a high explosive incendiary munition that is lined with zirconium. The rounds are known for causing fires. . . . As a fire engulfed the hospital building, at least six patients burned to death in the intensive care unit.
I was also surprised and grossed out by General John Campbell's use of a noun I had never heard before in such a context:
"fires", plural, as a product to be delivered:
See his quotations after the squiggle:
http://www.npr.org/...(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GENERAL JOHN CAMPBELL: The decision to provide aerial fires was a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of command. [emphasis added—gk] A hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility.
WELNA: But Campbell would not say how such a mistake happened.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CAMPBELL: I must allow the investigation to take its course, and therefore I'm not at liberty to discuss further specifics at this time. However, I assure you that the investigation will be thorough, objective and transparent.
WELNA: Chairman McCain asked if it was true the airstrike had been requested by Afghans on the ground, but Campbell deflected any blame on them.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CAMPBELL: Even though the Afghans request that support, it still has to go through a rigorous U.S. procedure to enable fires to go on the ground. [emphasis added—gk]
MCCAIN: But there was no forward - American forward air controllers on the ground?
CAMPBELL: Sir, we had a special operations unit that was in close vicinity that was talking to the aircraft that delivered those fires. [emphasis added—gk]
Which brings to mind some classical firebombing in World War II. (As pioneered earlier on a small scale by Nazi Germany, and Japan, 1937-1938.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/...