They're made with a lovely cocktail of metals that not only tunnel through armor but have extra bonus of also melting of skin, burrowing through limbs, and contaminating the entire site where the bomb landed. ((go science!!!)) The bomb was created to minimize collateral damage and to make it possible for armies to attack previously "off-limits" areas, i.e. those with civilians. The bomb was supposed to destroy only a small radius and kill everything within it and nothing outside of it, but it also has a nasty habit of causing cancer, oops. This smart bomb was supposed to make war more civilized and to avoid the unfortunate accident of killing innocent bystanders. Here's a thought: if you want war to be less deadly - don't wage one. And here's a question for ya: how can a bomb be smart if the people ordering that they be dropped are idiots?
These bombs, lovingly crafted and shared by the US, have been used on Gazans before. Back in 2006, the Israeli army dropped a couple bombs which led to the death of at least 200 people and serious injuries, many of which were barely treatable and which led to amputations. We here in the US may not have heard anything about it were it not for a few brave Italian reporters and scientists who ignored Israeli and US pressure.
Back in 2006 when the use of this type of weapon first came to light, Israel fiercely denied that it was using illegal weapons, which may technically have been true at the time, seeing as how the weapons were too new to have been deemed illegal by international law. These days, the effects of D.I.M.E. bombs is quite well known, though I am still unsure on their legal status. Of course, there are a lot of things that people aren't "sure" about when it comes to D.I.M.E. bombs, like -- oh -- say the fact that the metals used in them will give you cancer (FYI: I'm being sarcastic). More ethical hair-splitting, really. Scientists had evidence that the heavy metal–tungsten alloys (HMTAs) used in these bombs would cause tumors at least as early as 2001, but according to the military's scientists, the evidence was "incomplete," and therefore, I assume, ok to use until the evidence conclusively proved the bombs were evil.
So we know where this insanity is being played out most currently: Gaza. But where did it begin? In our own backyard. The Manhattan Project to be more specific. People have always been trying to make bigger and better bombs, and we here in the states have made an art of it. With each new weapon, we push ourselves to improve it, make it more deadly, make it more stealth, more sexy. Can we increase the kill ratio? Can we streamline the production? Can we market this baby?
Yes we can!
And so we do. Each question asked becomes a question answered, leading to greater and greater evil possibilities for our weaponry. Sooner or later, we'll need to test these theories and inventions. Perhaps this helps to explain the strange relationship between the US and Israel. Rather than sully our own hands, we have our friends run experiments for us. Or maybe we can split the work! We'll drop some chemical agents on Iraqis, and they'll drop other bombs on Palestinians! Oooo, and just because we're such good scientists, we can have the Israeli's replicate our results by dropping even more chemicals on Palestinians!
The sheer extent of this insanity makes me sick. It makes me hate being a scientist and hate being an American and hate knowing that my name is on those bombs and hate being so helpless to stop any of this.
Like most American children, I grew up knowing who Satan was and knowing that devils were short, red-skinned beings with horns, hooves, and tails. Evil was a sort of communicable disease and something that was external, something that took control over us. But the older I get, the more sure I am that evil doesn't exist, at least not in this form. Evil isn't something that finds us; it comes from us. Evil is the sum total of local, independent random acts of self-delusion. Each time someone exerts his or her will without pausing to consider the wisdom of the act, it is an evil. Every time someone has to rationalize his or her behavior and tell him or herself that this is really ok despite that little tingle in the gut, it's an evil. Yes, evil exists, but not in little red demons or some monstrous fallen angel. The source is much closer to home, and the face is a bit more familiar.
Palestinian boy killed as he lay sleeping by an unidentified weapon used by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip (The WE/www.kawther.info)
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