Reply #5: Why use posion when 1000lbs of explosives will work fine? [View All]

[wmbrew0206]

I can say this because I am a combat certified joint terminal attack controller (ie. the US military has said I am qualified to call in an air strike).

There would be no need in this case to use a chemical or biologic weapon when a conventional bomb will work, especially when the target is in an urban area. From what I've read this was either a 500 or 1000 pound GPS guided bomb. Neither contain depleted uranium (that is used when you need to pierce armor or another dense object) because a bomb falling from 20,000 ft has enough momentum to punch through the roof of a stone house.

FYI, the 10% probability of incapacitation for a 1000lb bomb is about 200 meters. This means that if you are with 200 meters of this bomb when it goes off, there is a 10% probability that you'll be out of it for about 10 to 15 minutes. That would include nausea due to the overpressure of the blast. That is why people probably got sick rather than a chemical or biological weapon.

I wish posters would do some research about this rather than just throwing out accusations like "...it was poison." Trust me, no one, pilots or JTACs, want to be responsible for dropping or calling in a chem or bio weapon.