Posted on 08/04/2006 9:19:07 PM PDT by janetjanet998
These are IDF pictures of the American TOW missiles they found with other hezbollah arms...CNN also mentioned they have found some TOWS
Until Inauguration Day 2001 Clinton was still in office; and he certainly had plenty of opportunities to put these things in the works that wouldn't come to the attention of the next administration until much later.
I agree with some of the comments about the way the number 7 is written. But that is not as obvious as the number 9. We always use a straight backed nine rather than the rounded 9 like a backword e.
Also the weight is listed in kg not lb like in the post with the specs. Maybe someone in the military can comment on how the government lists weights on ordinance like this.
I like the way you think
I think it's a little too early to say that for sure.
TOW missles are wire-guided missles from the late 70's. I would be highly surprised if we were still manufacturing them. They have a range of 2 miles and are used in close combat. The drawback is that they have a 2-mile long wire that extends from shooter to target which makes it much easier to locate the shooter. They would also require an extra supply of missles for target practice since guiding them can be tricky.
Frankly, this is one of those stories that I regret to say makes me think the American people really are the idiots some glibly claim they are. A mature populace would understand that this kind of thing is going to happen when we sell weapons outside our borders--they're going to move, and end up in the hands of people we don't want to have them.
I am not condoning this anymore than I'd be condoning people getting run down by cars when I observe that if you sell cars to the public, people will die in accidents. I'm merely observing reality, and dealing arms presents a reality some folks will get all outraged over when I'd ask them "Why is this a surprise to you?"
If not, I'd say those cases are American Made.
We are still making them....
Check out this link.... I don't think they take on-line orders though...:^)
http://www.raytheon.com/products/tow_family/
Oops on second look those are centegrade readings. My bad. Never mind.
Some TOW's were found in Al Queida in Iraq's posession.
I saw an interview with an Israeli spokesman this evening who said that Hezbollah also has Russian anti-tank weapons.
Sure, but Hezbollah is supplied by Iran and Syria, both of whom have a long history of buying weapons from Russia. We expect Hezbollah to have those.
The pathway of a relatively heavy American weapon from the US to the hands of terrorists is more obscure, and there's probably a very interesting tale behind it.
bttt
Boy, we here on FR jump to conclusions, don't we? It is automatically assumed that it was Bill.
I think it was Hitlery. And she got paid for them fair and square! She didn't just give them away! A girl has to have campaign contributions! And old ladies do, too!
;o)
Those double-dealing frogs can't fool us here at FR.
They didn't get a Silkworm. They got Saccade. The Silkworm is a huge bulky old generation ASCM that looks like it came out of a Flash Gordon movie. The C-802 (Saccade) is a modern generation ASCM.
They international grey arms market is booming. There is always someone who can get their hands on all variants of ATGMs. Money talks.
Please get real. The UN troops in Lebanon carry light weapons for self protection. They don't require ATGMs to protect themselves. You are off in a fantasy land!
Arab nations receive billions of dollars worth of equipment from the U.S. The batch numbers on the boxes should be easy to check out and to whom they were supplied to. Try Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, U.A.E etc. One corrupt storeman signs them off for the range for test firing and they never make it there! They end up on the grey arms market and then onto Hizbollah forces.
They don't have NATO stock codes on the boxes. Looks like U.S. stocks supplied to Arab nations and then going missing from those Arab nations armories.
"...the guy has to have some kinda training...which would be third question...where he got this training."
Plenty of muslim converts such as John Walker (USA) and David Hicks (Australia) around that could do such a job. Look at France and the numbers of foreign AND French-born muslims in their ranks. I would argue that the TOW weapon system is not that much different from the MILAN system as used in France. Manuals are widely available anywhere, because nobody has TOW missiles and the related hardware. Unless, one way or the other, someone does have TOW missiles and the related hardware. See? Job done.
Now, don't push your luck, of course, but as a general rule, those muzzies can't shoot for $#!t. Being full of blind hatred has a baaaaaad effect on one's concentration, and WILL have an adverse effect on one's weapon handling skills. Hopefully this goes for anti-tank weapons too.
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