On signing a bomb
DATELINE: From Somewhere In Southwest Asia
Today I put a note on a bomb, a 500 pound JDAM, Joint Direct Attack Munition.
Perhaps putting a note on a bomb strikes some as either romantic, foolish, or vicious– or perhaps a combination of the three. The act certainly has shades and colors of all three characteristics, and perhaps a dash of steelly sentimentalism. In my case it also contains a kilogram of deserved anger.
I was on a concrete work stand with USAF ordnance personnel who prepare and fuze the bombs. Day in, day out, at the end of a long runway in the desert they tighten the screws and add the gizmos that turn a hunk of iron and high explosive into a weapon with a very big bang. One of the airmen passed me a black marks-alot and asked me “Would you like to send a message?” I suppose the weapon will eventually be tucked beneath the wing of a fighter plane headed for Iraq or Afghanistan. Those are the logical destinations. But I sent my message to Pakistan’s most famous resident, Osama bin Laden.
Recall Osama said that people will follow the “strong horse.” In his mind the United States was “the weak horse”, a nation of couch potatoes, spoiled brats, and libertine wastrels –cowards all.
But Osama has had a tough six years. Consider the consequences of 9/11. His Afghan bastion fell quickly. Yes, the Taliban still murder villagers and send suicide bombers toward Kabul, but the Taliban of today is a fanatic fragment of the organization which once ruled 90 percent of Afghanistan by terror. Osama also sought to transform an intra-Muslim war. 9/11 was his violent magic trick, the sensational abracadabra that would cover the Muslim world’s fissures and fractures with the facade of a pan-Islamic jihad. Osama, of course, would serve as the new caliph, thank you.
That bid’s gone belly-up, and Iraq is the battlefield that killed it. In Iraq the US brought the “exported war” back to the heart of the Arab Muslim Middle East. Who have suffered the most from homicidal Islamist extremists? Other Muslims. Perhaps the Washington Post doesn’t know it, but in Iraq Al Qaeda has lost the information war. The struggle for the terms of modernity continues, and will continue for decades, but Al Qaeda’s socio-paths have been exposed.
So what did I scrawl on the bomb?
“Greet the strong horse.”
I hope it gives a terrorist a fatal ride.
The medium is the message Austin Bay sends one to the would-be caliph written on a bomb. Technorati tags: Austin Bay, Osama bin Laden, Marshall McLuhan
Trackback by Public Secrets: from the files of the Irishspy — 11/8/2007 @ 1:33 pm
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Pingback by University Update - Iraq - On signing a bomb — 11/8/2007 @ 1:50 pm
Austin, May be the best blog you’ve written. David
Comment by david — 11/8/2007 @ 7:06 pm
Huzzah! That thought goes for me and my AF Son as well!
Comment by AF Dad — 11/8/2007 @ 8:33 pm
Great work with the market! That really made my evening.
Comment by kim — 11/9/2007 @ 12:14 am
Oops- I meant “marker.” I wouldn’t mind signing a couple JDAMs myself. In my case, I’d write, “Warm greetings from Fire Patrol 2, Greenwich Village”
Comment by kim — 11/9/2007 @ 12:19 am
Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it Osama?
Comment by Michael Cadrecha — 11/9/2007 @ 9:22 am
I wonder if Osama has a DVD player in his cave. If so he just might recognize the following quote: “Yippie Kai Ay, MotherFucker!” otpu
Comment by otpu — 11/9/2007 @ 9:20 pm
Shouldn’t that be “Al Qaeda’s socio-paths have been” exploded…Heh.
Comment by Kerry — 11/10/2007 @ 7:35 am
I love it. Efficient. Strong. To the point. Keep moving…
Comment by Brent — 11/10/2007 @ 7:42 am
Oh splendid ! When you care enough to send the very best. Ride that one, Osama.
Comment by El Jefe Maximo — 11/10/2007 @ 8:40 am
I can understand why they won’t, but they should totally auction JDAM message rights on eBay. I would pay at least $20 to personalize one of those pick-me-off bouquets.
Comment by Jonathan — 11/10/2007 @ 11:28 am
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Pingback by KHIMICH — 11/10/2007 @ 1:49 pm
Wow! What a great post for Veteran’s Day weekend. Keep fighting the good fight.
Comment by DCPoliticsNews — 11/10/2007 @ 3:25 pm
JDAM - “When you care enough to send the very best.”
Comment by sherlock — 11/10/2007 @ 7:18 pm
I always get a kick out of reading what civilian reporters/writers say about my job. I read your article in the SA Express 19 Nov. I can tell you it’s disturbing when accuracy is left out of what could have been a very good story. The JDAM is all about accuracy, so it made your tale a bit less believable. I probably wouldn’t have said anything, but adding the Navy photo, with gross inaccuracy, drove me to comment. There are thousands of people (AF,Navy and many others) who know what a real JDAM looks like, and many of us have built several of them. Thanks for the attention but we obviously get plenty. In stead of making my profession look bad, use the correct photo of what you are talking about. That’s definately not a JDAM! I haven’t heard of writing on a bomb as “romantic”, but to each his own, more like stress relief or self expression. We always care enough to send the very best! ED NOTE: Please complain to your paper, not to me. I have no control over what photos, etc, a newspaper runs with my column. I assure you I know what a JDAM is and what it does. Anyone who works (or in my case, has worked) in a joint plans section knows –and loves– JDAMs.
Comment by Jeff — 11/19/2007 @ 9:54 pm