US Drops a MOAB in Afghanistan

[230RN]

"cost-conscious lefties?"

Bu-wah-hah-hahhhhhhh.

Only when it suits their agenda.

[MechAg94]

Even 2000 lb dumb bombs are pretty expensive.  War isn't cost effective unless you factor in the cost of doing nothing. 

[K Frame]

Anyone remember what happened the last time the left tried to fight a war on a budget?

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?

[Firethorn]

Apparently the other latest thing is claiming a single MOAB costs $314 million. Which was the development cost. Actual unit cost is $170k. Roughly on par with normal dumb bomb cost scaling. If you divide out the MOAB dev costs by number of units made, works out to $16 million per.

We can make it a lot cheaper by dropping more of them.

yeah, sunk cost fallacy is a thing.  Each bomb costs $170k.  The $314M was already spent, it's gone.

Hell, it probably cost more than $170k to fly the plane over and drop the thing.  One shouldn't forget the knock-on effects of the US doing something "differently" when there's call for it.  Consider the impact of the news here in the US, then consider what it might be like over there.

That said, it's looking more and more like this was the correct decision.

[RevDisk]

yeah, sunk cost fallacy is a thing.  Each bomb costs $170k.  The $314M was already spent, it's gone.

Hell, it probably cost more than $170k to fly the plane over and drop the thing.  One shouldn't forget the knock-on effects of the US doing something "differently" when there's call for it.  Consider the impact of the news here in the US, then consider what it might be like over there.

That said, it's looking more and more like this was the correct decision.

Averaged cost is still a valid thing. Claiming the total program cost is the same as one bomb is the issue. It's very dishonest. The amount of disinformation is actually pretty surprising.

[HankB]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone come across the longitude and latitude of where the Afghan MOAB was dropped? I've seen some talk about the general area (province) of it's drop, but not exact location.

SOMEONE must know - from the number of people that heard it go off, I gather it was kind of hard to overlook.

[Perd Hapley]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone come across the longitude and latitude of where the Afghan MOAB was dropped? I've seen some talk about the general area (province) of it's drop, but not exact location.

SOMEONE must know - from the number of people that heard it go off, I gather it was kind of hard to overlook.

Yeah, right. The only people that can tell you where it was "dropped" are the Trump administration's crisis actors.     

[K Frame]

Holy hell...

One of my Aussie Facebook friends, who was ALL for launching 60 cruise missiles into Syria, unfriended me over the MOAB and my happiness that it was used effectively.

What a hypocritical little mommy parts waffle.

[RevDisk]

Holy hell...

One of my Aussie Facebook friends, who was ALL for launching 60 cruise missiles into Syria, unfriended me over the MOAB and my happiness that it was used effectively.

What a hypocritical little mommy parts waffle.

Why is one good and the other bad?

[T.O.M.]

Why is one good and the other bad?

For that matter, I just don't get the uproar over the MOAB at all.  It's a bomb.  A big bomb, but still just a conventional bomb.  I know, it's a left-driven attack on the administration.  But seriously, short of a nuclear weapon, how is this any different than using 11 one-ton bombs, or 22 500 lb. bombs?  Same explosive yield, but fewer devices. 

[K Frame]

Why is one good and the other bad?

That's what I kept asking him. He kept ignoring the question.

He seemed to be incensed by the size of the MOAB.

OK, 11,000 pounds of explosives... You do realize that those 60 cruise missiles had a combined 60,000 pounds of explosive?

That didn't matter to him. Far more, but smaller, packages were apparently somehow more noble.

He was bitching about "what if they had missed and the bomb went off target???"

He apparently didn't like my explanation that the only living things in that area were either US/Afghani military or terrorists because not a lot of people living where theres: no soil to farm, no grass for animals to eat, no surface water, etc.

The area that was bombed is almost entirely uninhabited.

Next thing I know I get a text with "You're not a nice person! Adios!" and I'm unfriended.

I guess you don't think anything is a threat when you're on the bottom of the world surrounded by thousands of miles of ocean on each side. What a hypocritical tool.

[230RN]

That's what I kept asking him. He kept ignoring the question.

He seemed to be incensed by the size of the MOAB.

OK, 11,000 pounds of explosives... You do realize that those 60 cruise missiles had a combined 60,000 pounds of explosive?

That didn't matter to him. Far more, but smaller, packages were apparently somehow more noble.

...

As opposed to flying two airliners into two buildings full of mostly innocent people?

And each airliner weighing, oh, call it 400 tons*, full of jet fuel and other organic matter ?

Terry

* Just a guesstimate.  Corrections invited.

[K Frame]

As I said, raging hypocrite.

[230RN]

I'm reminded of Jeff Cooper's remarks on violence begetting violence:

"One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that 'violence begets violence.' I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure — and in some cases I have — that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy."

https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/quotations-jeff-cooper

Terry

[Jim147]

Maybe his inner woman woke and he is offended by y the sexiest nickname.

[K Frame]

"And each airliner weighing, oh, call it 400 tons*, full of jet fuel and other organic matter ?"

Bit high.

The Boeing 767 (both WTC planes) has a maximum take off weight of around 206 tons.

The Boeing 757 (Pentagon) has a MTOW of about 110 tons.

[Perd Hapley]

Why is one good and the other bad?

Afghanimastan is George W. Bush's war?

[230RN]

Continuing my amused analysis of Irwin's Aussie unfriend's attitudes...

"That didn't matter to him. Far more, but smaller, packages were apparently somehow more noble."

Well, of course!  How many packages of Black Cat firecrackers does it take to make 11,000 pounds?
 
Much more betterer and moraler.

Oh, and thanks for the requested correction.

[Frank Castle]

Continuing my amused analysis of Irwin's Aussie unfriend's attitudes...

60 cruise missiles used in Syria: response for gas attack . Good Trump

MOAB in Afghanistan: More wasted money in Bush's war. Plus the Moab attack, was political statement. Bad Trump 

[KD5NRH]

For that matter, I just don't get the uproar over the MOAB at all.

[KD5NRH]

Which is why eventually we're going to have to nuke the entire area and turn it into a sea of glass.

Can we tune the bombs just right so it's parabolic, then polish it, silver it and use a geostationary satellite to make it a huge Newtonian telescope?

And can we use a bunch of really huge visible green lasers around the crater/mirror to position the satellite or something?

[HankB]

. . .  The area that was bombed is almost entirely uninhabited . . .

Bomb apparently was dropped at 34.073336 N, 70.631215 E. Not much detail visible on Google Earth, but right up to the mountains there appear to be cultivated fields.

What do they grow?

Well, the town or settlement of "Shaddle Bazar" is supposed to be 1.5 miles away from Ground Zero, and a quick Google search yielded an old BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6957238.stm) about this being a very large market for the opium trade.

So my guess is the fields are mostly opium poppies.

[230RN]

Well, all that fixed nitrogen from the bomb going off ought to help the next crop.

[cordex]

Far more, but smaller, packages were apparently somehow more noble.

Weird, I thought small munitions were even more evil.  Cluster bomblets are quite small, but when you use those people start complaining about UXO and kids without legs.

Sizeist at both ends of the spectrum.

[zxcvbob]

As opposed to flying two airliners into two buildings full of mostly innocent people?

And each airliner weighing, oh, call it 400 tons*, full of jet fuel and other organic matter ?

Terry

* Just a guesstimate.  Corrections invited.