Lots of photos at link. Intro here
A few years ago, a British officer said to me they want to get as far left of bang as possible. The farther left of bang, the better. Right of bang is a crater and a memorial service.
A main goal in staying left of bang is to disrupt enemy bomb-making cells. In the early days of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, if a bomb blew up our people, we would be apt to arrest every male in the village old enough to sport pubic hair. We paid for that with more blood and may or may not have gotten the right guys. It was as if we were dealing with a thousand mysterious unabombers. In America, if a bomb hit the local National Guard headquarters and the Guard responded by flooding out and arresting the entire neighborhood, the Guard could be assured that any positive or neutral feelings would be toxified to the point where previously friendly eyes would become enemy spies. The formula is simple and works every time. |