Do Iraqi terrorists Have Secret Weapon?

[brainshrub]

Before you read this post I would like to point out that 1) www.wordnetdaily.com is an ultra-conservative website. 2) The sources for this story are vague. 3) Why do they call the Iraqis terrorists if they are using this weapon on military targets that are occupying their own country?

Okay, here is the story:

"WASHINGTON -- A mystery munition knocked a U.S. Army M1A1 Abrams tank out of commission in Iraq, leading the Pentagon to question whether the terrorists have a secret weapon in their arsenal.

An unclassified Army report says a projectile punched through the vehicle and drilled a pencil-sized hole through the hull. The hole was so small that, according to the author's report, "my little finger will not go into it.""

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35422

Could this story be misinformation designed to justify harsher tactics against the Iraqi civilians? Could this story be an attempt to make the "terrorists" look more sophisticated than they really are? Could this story be a set-up to frame a 3rd country for supporting the Iraqi rebels?
We have to ask these questions.

[lcordero]

1. It's here too

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/10/274058.shtml

[this_side_up]

2. I think someone else

posted a link earlier today which quotes the people
who are checking it out. I think they called it
'a golden rpg'.

Also I think last week or the week before
someone posted a link to the photos of the damage:
entry hole not larger than little finger and a
mess inside that was hot enough to set off the
Halon fire system.

[J B]

3. It's probably a French rocket used by Croatians vs. Serb tanks

I forget the name - it was in one of Col. Hackworth's books. Same pencil-sized hole...

This speculation about Russian arms could be true but, the similarities with the French anti-tank rocket are too great to ignore easily.

I mailed my opinion to Hackworth personally and have no idea if I'm right or not, but at least he'll likely note that he did report on something similar years ago. Fortunately Abrams tanks have much better crew protection than smaller Soviet tanks.

[bubba_fett]

4. I doubt that this could be done by iraqis...

I've heard a lot of stories (only stories, I still take them with a grain of salt) about the US military testing experimental weapons on themselves.

I know some will cry conspiracy theory, but c'mon, it is a proven fact that the United States military has done this, tested weapons on their own unsuspecting lower ranks.

I'm as realistic and logical as the next guy here, but just read what some vets have said about Gulf War I, Panama, and even Vietnam (google it). Where there's smoke there is at least a tiny flame.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. It Was A Feature Story In The 10/27/03 Issue Of Defense News

a widely read publication in the military community.

[study_war_no_more]

7. military community? hmmm

[study_war_no_more]

6. yeah sure and they are just waiting for the right time to use

Once fu Man Chu shows up i suppose they are pationt these middle easteners.

[this_side_up]

8. I should think before posting

Duh.

http://armytimes.com/channel.php?GQID=292236#7

Above is the link to the slide show and the first
story.

I don't remember where I read the longer version.


As to whether or not they would be experimenting
and taking the chance on having more dead/injured
to say nothing of the loss of a tank worth
millions.... I just don't think so only due to the fact
that there are already so many gone.

But they apparently have samples of the leftovers
and I think they might have unexploded ones.
At least that is the impression I had after
reading the articles.

[TheLastMohican]

9. It is only secret to those unqualified journalists

The specialist on arms in any army will easily identify the projectile and type of weapon that fired it. Somehow, DoD wants all this cape of secrecy and nazi "wunderweapon" type of bs.
From my personal observation this is definetely not any anti-tank RPG with HEAT round.
The projectile that hit the tank was a solid piece of metal. This is probably an anti-tank gun which iraqis could pull from the ambush to fire and disengage and Abrams is known to have mediocre armor on its skirts and sides.

Just my 2 cents on the subject.

[IndianaGreen]

10. It's a Russian anti-tank rocket that was available to Iraq before the war

Several Abrams were destroyed by this shoulder fired rocket during the invasion, its designation escapes me at the moment but it ends with the number "7", so it appears this is the not so "secret" weapon that this publication is referring to.

[bleedingheart]

11. That secret weapon is the hatred of occupation

The revolutionaries of our country had it in the 1770's, the French in the 1790's... etc

People hate oppressionl, even if it was supposed to be "good" for them.

I recall before this war started I told one of my coworkers that the people of Iraq are heavily armed. She didn't believe me. Then when the war was nearing completion reports of rpg's and machine guns and all this other ordinance in people's home came out and she began to understand that I wasn't joking.

There are 25 million Iraqis, there are less than 200,000 occupation forces in Iraq. Do the math. If even 500,000 Iraqis spend the remainder of their days making life miserable for our soldiers that is a nightmare.

The "weapon" described in the article may exist but it isn't a WMD, it sounds like a sophisticated tool. We can't be shocked that some other people in this world may have more sophisticated weaponary.

[BiggJawn]

12. Yes they do...

Their "secret Weapon" is Donald "Dirty Deeds done on the CHEAP" Rumsferatu's inept handling of American troops over there....

[Turley]

13. link to photos

http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=missile_mystery.htm