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| Afghanistan/South Asia | |||||
| Pakistan fires new cruise missile | |||||
| 2005-08-11 | |||||
| Pakistan says it has fired its first cruise missile, describing the launch as a "milestone" in its history. The Babur missile is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads and has a range of 500km (310 miles), a military spokesman said. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the launch was a birthday gift to President Pervez Musharraf. Analysts say the launch is likely to cause concern to regional countries, particularly nuclear rival India. The launch comes days after Pakistan and India agreed to give each other advance notice of future nuclear ballistic missile tests. India was not informed about Thursday's test because the agreement did not cover guided missiles, a Pakistan military spokesman said.
There was no immediate reaction to the test from Delhi.
The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says the test is likely to ring alarm bells in many countries. Pakistan has been under close scrutiny by the international community since its leading nuclear expert, AQ Khan, was found to have leaked nuclear secrets two years ago. India and Pakistan routinely test-fire their missiles. In March, Pakistan successfully tested a long-range nuclear-capable missile - the Shaheen II, with a range of 2,000km (1,250 miles). Both countries have limited command-and-control structures, and neither has developed the technology to recall a nuclear-tipped missile fired in error. | |||||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #27 tw, Copy and paste this (li class="MsoNormal" style="") to the RB comment window. Don't use the parentheses. BUT add "<" right before "li" and ">" right after second quotation mark This will give you your bullet point. For example, this how it would look like with 3 bullet points. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-11 23:22 |
| #26 Of course, Poison Reverse. But we were all newbies here once upon a time. I seem to recall you annoying the oldsters early on, and I'm quite certain I did, too. I particularly remember Mr. (and later Mrs.) Davis's great kindness in explaining things to me. ;-) GF, I don't know how to do the html thingy, but I just use small letter O as a rough substitute for real bullets. (No doubt why nobody ever invites me to play war with them.) o So this o Is what I do. And nobody complains about the presentation, although plenty disagree with what I actually say. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-11 22:38 |
| #25 No problem. But, I mentioned it in #3. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-11 20:46 |
| #24 The truth is that the Clinton Adminstration sold the gyro technology, including software, to the Chinese Wasn't aware of this. I do recall assistance to their satellite launch program that included the dispensing bus (and thus enabling Chinese MIRVs). |
| Posted by: john 2005-08-11 20:41 |
| #23 tw, Anyone can understand the anger that GF is stating, but it should be articulated in a specific manner within the subject matter of the topic. He/she just essentially dropped cluster bomb full of rants concerning multiple topics. This person clearly looking for a "fire and forget" blog, RB, as you already know, is not the place for that. The topic of this thread is "Pakistan Fires New Cruise Missile," and not oil, Iraq, Hamas, or Saudia Arabia. john, I appreciate the link but this article is misinformation and truth deflection at its best. The article states, "officials said experts associated with Pakistan's civilian and military missile programs were inspecting the guidance system, onboard computer and propulsion system of the Tomahawk missile." Any military expert ( and we have plenty at RB) will tell you, there is no way in HELL that the Paki's picked terrain hugging missile technology from busted up Tomahawk missile. Any military expert will also tell you that its the software that counts, not the hardware. There are plenty of countries that have Tomahawk type missile's but can't make it work. There is a reason for that. Without the software, the hardware is useless. Military software is written in at least 256 bit(AES) Advanced Encryption Standard, which is usually on the chip itself. The chips are especially designed to self destruct during ANY anomly. Bottomline, this article is a red herring. The truth is that the Clinton Adminstration sold the gyro technology, including software, to the Chinese and now inturn have turned it over to the Paki's. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-11 20:28 |
| #22 First, I don't know how to do bullet points here unless I cut and paste from Word. I assume that is how it is done, right? No, you'll need to embed html tags in your comment. Google "html tag" and "unordered list" to see explanation and examples. |
| Posted by: rkb 2005-08-11 19:58 |
| #21 Poison Reverse, I would accept your apology with pleasure, but by now you'll have noticed that GF and I are indeed different people. Can I fold it up in lavender scented paper and store it away against future need? ;-) GF is a great deal more impatient than I, for one thing. I think we all understand his frustration, but even with all the new recruits, our forces (including the Brits, the Poles, the Australians, the Mongolians, the South Koreans, the Japanese, etc, etc) and the new Iraqi forces are very busy in Iraq and Afghanistan (and wherever else the Special Forces types are wandering around -- very quietly -- these days). It feels to me -- and I haven't any source for numbers to back up my contention -- that units are being rested in rotation, so that they'll be fit for the next big push as soon as Iraq is a bit more settled. I hope I'm right, because our guys have been going full out for almost 18 months, which can take quite a mental and physical toll under any circumstances, let alone when bad guys are trying to kill you. This is a very different war than the war GF's father and my parents were involved in. This is a finesse war, not a meat grinder. We haven't the manpower for one thing, and the toys our troops play with these days require a good deal more than just a high school education. And we're trying to build a society even as we fight, so that hopefully we won't have to garrison the region for the next generation just to maintain order. Which takes a lot more attention to detail than simply breaking things and killing people. Or so it appears to this little civilian housewife. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-11 19:47 |
| #20 Link Pakistanis Say They Are Studying U.S. Missile Tomahawk Reportedly Was Recovered After Raid on Camps in Afghanistan Officials said experts associated with Pakistan's civilian and military missile programs were inspecting the guidance system, onboard computer and propulsion system of the Tomahawk missile, which was fired Aug. 20 in the U.S. attack on camps in Afghanistan but apparently fell short of its target. Some sources indicated that information obtained by examining the missile might be shared with China, Pakistan's ally, but officials refused to comment on that possibility. "It is a gift from the God," the official said. "The country that had denied us all sorts of economic and military assistance has suddenly gifted us the weapon of choice from its arsenal." |
| Posted by: john 2005-08-11 19:28 |
| #19 Exactly! What was your url again? |
| Posted by: Mr Chartes 2005-08-11 19:04 |
| #18 I meant *God, this isn't my father's America!* LOL |
| Posted by: Glolusing Flereth5459 2005-08-11 18:12 |
| #17 Poison Reverse on # 2 and # 3: First, I don't know how to do bullet points here unless I cut and paste from Word. I assume that is how it is done, right? Second, semi-colons often are used to indicate the end of each point on a bullet list. Third, I do consider Bill Clinton one of the worst Presidents when it came to our national security, indeed also when it came to the honor of the Office of the Presidency. Clinton was a disaster on both counts. I just happen to find Carter slighty worse for two reasons: He gave us the Iran of today and he continues to be the worst, most obnoxious ex-President ever! How Paki got China's tech? I know about that. I'm venting about Iraq because we have been too PC, too nice, too pussy-footing around. I had hoped that by now, Syria would have been smoldering courtesy of B-2s and the Iranians would be sh*tting themselves. Instead, it appears our enemies' nads are getting larger while we're being served up the spectacle of Cindy Sheehan night after night. God, this isn't the my father's America! He served during W W 2. We're getting hit by Iranian-made IEDs and what's the deal here? What are we going to do, use harsh language on Iran? I don't blame Bush; I blame the MSM, the professors, the universities, the Democrats, liberals, and the whole sick PC and ACLU-lawyer culture. Michael Savage is right, they are the enemy within. |
| Posted by: Glolusing Flereth5459 2005-08-11 18:09 |
| #16 Yah, it's hard to tell from the picture where the air intake would be in flight, but it looks like it would be in the same place as on a tomahawk. OTWH (On the worse hand) we're allegedly selling them harpoons, including the land attack version. |
| Posted by: Phil 2005-08-11 17:49 |
| #15 LOl. Now, that was funny. Frank Man back after a long |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-11 17:30 |
| #14 Close up of the Babur ...Al-Tomahawk... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-08-11 16:53 |
| #13 Open Range - you and Duvall were awesome. Stick to westerns, pal |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-11 16:50 |
| #12 Seen my new one yet? Christ, even I don't remember the name of it... |
| Posted by: Kevin Costner 2005-08-11 16:03 |
| #11 Spembles are deliciously ironic. Swirbels seem to have a desperate sense of promotion.....kinda like some of Kevin Costners lesser flicks - Waterworld, The Postman, The Shipman always Rings Twice |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-11 15:47 |
| #10 Close up of the Babur |
| Posted by: john 2005-08-11 14:28 |
#9 Yet another Pak missile named after a central asian muslim plunderer of India. Since Paks have zero design capability, this must be a Chinese cruise missile. Anyone recognize it? The quoted range violates MTCR export guidelines (as if China cares). |
| Posted by: john 2005-08-11 13:48 |
| #8 Are the Swirbelwinds any relation to the Spembles? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2005-08-11 13:11 |
| #7 tw, I wouldn't have been so harsh if I knew it was you. I thought GF was a troll. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-11 13:07 |
| #6 Did I say: http://www.calderonswirbelwind.blogspot.com/ Wanted to make sure, it not lost. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-11 12:53 |
| #5 I think we need to go to: http://www.calderonswirbelwind.blogspot.com And we need to repeat this over and over and fucking over again, because we are going to be sucessful dammit. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-11 12:52 |
| #4 I agree about the bullet points. It makes a list much easier to read. However, many people use semicolons to show the end of each point on a list. I do have a thought about that $5/gallon gasoline: hybrid vehicles are already being sold in the U.S. faster than they can be manufactured. Should petroleum prices really reach that high, the entire First World will convert to hybrid vehicles, and Americans will give up their SUVs and Hummers, effectively halving the amount of petroleum used for personal transportation. Also, such a high price for a sustained period of time will result in renewed pumping of oil from American wells, and serious investment in extraction from Canadian oil sands (where oh where is Mark E. when we need him??). And such high prices should concentrate European minds nicely on the real issues, while drastically slowing down China's economy. At which point China will have neither the funds nor the social climate to allow the kind of little adventures they now indulge in. So, while definitely uncomfortable, I don't think $5/gallon gasoline will be quite the disaster you are planning on. Also, I am willing to put my reputation on the line here, and say that unless the Republicans field a presidential candidate as weak as Senator John F. Kerry, there is no way the Democrats are going to win the next election. Especially if Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton stands up for the Democrats. (Of course, this opinion is worth exactly what you just paid for it! ;-] ) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-11 12:09 |
| #3 GF, You need to do your research. It was Bill Clinton that sold our advanced gyro-stabilization technology to the Chinese for campaign contributions. Reason number 1001 why Clinton was probably our most dangerous President. Without advanced gyro-stabilization technology from the US, the Paki's would have never been able (or delayed to oblivion) to build a terrain hugging missile. You're probably wondering if Clinton sold the tech. to China how did Pakistan get it. I will let you figure than one out. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-11 11:16 |
| #2 ...and the Democratic Party solution: send in the FBI. BTW, you forgot bullet points on the list and also, there shouldn't be a semicolon at the end of a sentence. Next time, try ending the sentence with a proper punctuation before adding a space. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-11 10:55 |
| #1 The Future Perfect: Nuclear-armed Iran with advanced missile capabilities; Islamist-controlled Pakiskankland with cruise and long-range nuclear missle capabilities; Islamist-Baathist occupied Iraq following President Hillary Clinton's 2009 withdrawal of all U.S. forces; An Islamicized sovereign Gaza and increasingly Hamas-dominated West Bank; Saudi oilfields, pipelines bombed by emboldened Al-Qaeda; $5.00 per gallon gasoline in U.S. by 2008; Things are looking pretty good. And I didn't even include North Korea or Communist China. What happened to the Axis of Evil? We had a chance to hammer at least Syria and possibly Iran in the days immediately after the victory that was Operation Iraqi Freedom. Instead, we allowed our awesome military to get bogged down in an inclusive war of attrition in Iraq. Somebody dropped the ball big time! Somebody made the brilliant call that had 150,000 troops cover a country the size of California replete with unguarded borders with three hostile entities: Syria, Iran, and the KSA. Who is in charge here? Conservative Republicans or Jimmy Carter-era Democrats? Reagan's gotta be rolling in his GRAVE! |
| Posted by: Glolusing Flereth5459 2005-08-11 09:17 |