Religion is bullshit,but

[Alaric I]

I get that. problem is the US has had a notorious rep for being rather careless when it comes to combat. My grandfather told me a good line, When the British bomb the Luftwaffe duck. When the Luftwaffe bomb the British ducks, when the US bombs EVERYONE ducks. Where there is smoke there is fire. pun intended.

I get that friendly fire happens. It just flippant and arbitrary that steps can't be taken to avoid or reduce it. i guess it's another that is bullshit (in keeping with the topic)

Everyone is careless when the fog of war sets in.  Most fratricide incidents happen because combatatns come upon a group of people. can't identify them, and open fire only to find out that they read a map wrong and they just shot up their own guys.  When you start getting shot at you tend to just lob fire back in th directions the shots are coming from.

[surly74]

fog of war? seems like an excuse for poor planning or incompetence.

[Alaric I]

fog of war? seems like an excuse for poor planning or incompetence.

Not at all, it's a term used when emotions are running high and adrenaline is pumping.  It's when you psychlogically go foggy and are running on pure instinct.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I get that. problem is the US has had a notorious rep for being rather careless when it comes to combat. My grandfather told me a good line, When the British bomb the Luftwaffe duck. When the Luftwaffe bomb the British ducks, when the US bombs EVERYONE ducks. Where there is smoke there is fire. pun intended.

Even sixty years ago, the US devoted more effort to ensuring accurate bombing of German cities (and admittedly failed given technological constraints of the era -- but the effort is the point).  We've continued that process by pioneering smart weapons which minimize civilian casualties as much as possible.  Whatever "rep" the US has seems clouded by disagreement with our foreign policy, which is an entirely different issue.

Your grandfather might wish to remember, too, that the policy of both the British and the Germans was one of wanton aerial bombing with the expressed intent of the disruption of civilian life.  Indeed, in a fit of doublespeak, the British called their bombing program ""dehousing", giving acknowledgement to the idea that they weren't attacking military targets at all.

I get that friendly fire happens. It just flippant and arbitrary that steps can't be taken to avoid or reduce it. i guess it's another that is bullshit (in keeping with the topic)

What purpose do you think drove the invention of smart weapons, if not the desire to ensure that a weapon landed on target, and not awry?

[Sleeper]

Wow, this thread has long since abandoned the "religion" category.

On a positive note, we've got another ricochet bullseye!

[Youssuf Ramadan]

What purpose do you think drove the invention of smart weapons, if not the desire to ensure that a weapon landed on target, and not awry?

True, but on the flip side there is the continued use by many countries of cluster munitions, which are for the purpose of demoralisation of the the population, both military and civilian.  Grim.   :-|

[Thumpalumpacus]

Indeed, grim.  Mines, as well.