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Afghanistan
Coalition Forces Drop Daisy Cutters On Taliban Base
2003-08-27
In retaliation for strikes by the Taliban over the weekend that killed a dozen or more coalition soldiers, 1000 Afghan troops backed by US-led coalition forces and US air support bombed a Taliban base in the Dozi mountains approximately 170 miles southwest of Kabul. Afghan officials say that dozens of Taliban have been killed as the result of Daisy Cutter bombs dropped on the mountain hideout however the Pentagon puts the death toll at 14. The airstrikes included F-16 fighters, A-10 "Wart Hogs" and Harrier ground-attack jets, Pentagon officials said.
Which one dropped the daisy cutters?
JUS reporters in Pakistan received reports from eyewitnesses in the area who said that approximately 50 ordinance "pulverized" the Taliban position and that the area has been sealed off to prevent locals from reaching the area.
If they did use daisy cutters, which is open to question (reporting is from Jihad Unspun), and they've got the area sealed tight, I'd guess they think they've got one of the bigs, probably Mullah Omar, bottled in there. Sure would be nice if they got him...
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

#7  So if we got Omar, how the heck are we going to ID the red stain on the wall as him?
Posted by: someone   2003-8-28 12:00:21 AM  

#6  We used a couple of daisy-cutters (25,000 pound HE gravity bombs - so-called 'dumb' stuff) in Vietnam and Laos. I've done some of the bomb damage assessments from those strikes. If they actually used one of those, there may be hundreds killed, and you'd never know, totally blown to pieces and spread as a thin, red jelly over the surrounding rocks.

We had a "before" and "after" shot of a drop on the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. The "before" shot showed a small stream surrounded by 200+ feet of canopy - large and small trees, vines, and bamboo. The "after" shot showed a large circle completely devoid of plants, and a 10-foot deep hole in the streambed. Most of the trees - some up to six feet in diameter - were turned into toothpicks.

It's possible that if they did use it in Afghanistan, it may not have killed anyone. However, you should be able to quickly find all the gunnies in the area from the smell of the sticky brown stuff in their trousers.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-8-27 10:33:40 PM  

#5  F-16's, A-10's, Harriers, ....daisy cutters?
What's missing are the C-130's that would actually drop the daisy cutters, unless we're sending them by truck. There are always C-130's at Bagram, and I'm sure there are daisy cutters ready for use in the area. But, I'm with Watcher. If they really used daisy cutters again, we'd be hearing about it from a real source.
Posted by: BossMan   2003-8-27 9:51:58 PM  

#4  Jihadis probably can't tell the difference between Daisy Cutters and JDAMs...they're all scary as hell when you're the one being targeted.
Posted by: Watcher   2003-8-27 8:55:18 PM  

#3  F-16's, A-10's, Harriers, Daisy Cutters (all plural) 14 dead. Bad counting or expensive kills?
Posted by: Mr. Davis   2003-8-27 8:43:01 PM  

#2  Egh. Not a MOAB, but we can hope they've got one handy.
Posted by: Ptah   2003-8-27 8:25:49 PM  

#1  *Fingers Crossed*
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2003-8-27 8:14:49 PM  

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