Friday, 26 September, 2003Digging up the Gaza StripRecently, Jackie D referring to my entry on the death of Rachel Corrie with regards to an entry by Stephen den Beste; Den Beste referred back to my entry in an update, which caused a massive spike in traffic. This had a knock-on effect, since someone whom I presume is one of Den Beste's readers then posted a link to said entry in this thread on the discussion forum of Nonviolence.org. As a result of that, I got some e-mail from one Shauna in Australia, who takes issue with my analysis of the incident. Exhuming the dead is an unpleasant activity (and believe me, I know), but it can be necessary in order to get at the truth, and lay certain rumours and suspicions to rest. So here we go again; Rachel Corrie redux. posted 2345 Z-8 [more..] Tuesday, 23 September, 2003The .50-calibre questionIn a recent discussion I engaged in on the rules of warfare, the old saw came up about it being a violation of international humanitarian law to use large-calibre rounds, like the .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun, 12.7x99mm) and the Soviet 12.7x109mm and 14.5x115mm, against personnel. The history of these rounds is roughly similar: sometime prior to the second world war, all three were developed as rounds for use in anti-tank rifles. The usefulness of the anti-tank rifle was overtaken by developments in tank armour, but the rounds were put to a new purpose by designing heavy machineguns to fire them; in this role, the rounds were highly effective against soft-skinned vehicles and aircraft. This was the rounds' only use until the 1980s, when the concept of the "anti-materiel sniper rifle" was developed, the first being the Barrett M82. The idea behind the anti-materiel sniper rifle was that a piece of sensitive equipment, such as a radar dish or a missile launcher, could be put out of action just as effectively with a few well-placed large-calibre rounds as with a demolition charge, and at considerably less risk to the soldier, who could remain at "stand-off range." Such a weapon might also be employed against soft-skinned or lightly armoured vehicles, and against helicopters. posted 0316 Z-8 [more..] Monday, 22 September, 2003Occupational hazardsVia normblog, I came upon a piece by Julie Burchill in the Guardian. Burchill discusses the deaths caused by asbestos, touching on deaths caused by hazardous working conditions in general, and remarks: [T]hey always tell you at school how many people communism and fascism killed, but never ever how many people capitalism killed, because a) they wouldn't know where to start and b) it would never end.I think the flaw in this comparison is rather obvious. After all, injury, disability, disfigurement and death due to unsafe working conditions are not unique to capitalism. posted 2342 Z-8 [more..] |
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