AC-130 Gunships Return to Iraq

AC-130 Gunships Return to Iraq
(cross-posted with a twist on firedoglake)

The U.S. Air Force has begun moving heavily armed AC-130
airplanes — the lethal \”flying gunships\” of the Vietnam War
— to a base in Iraq as commanders search for new tools to counter the
Iraqi resistance, The Associated Press has learned. An AP reporter saw the first of the turboprop-driven
aircraft after it landed at the airfield this week. Four are expected. The Iraq-based special forces command controlling the
AC-130s, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force, said it would have
no comment on the deployment. But the plan's general outline was confirmed
by other Air Force officers, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity
of the subject.
AP:
AC-130 Gunships Returning to Iraq

As if we needed more analogies to Vietnam.
However, it's doubtful it will make a dent in the likes of Powerline’s
John Hinderaker.

We were talking about this and my husband reminded me of the movie
\”The Green Beret.\” Then he told me an old story.

A long time ago, a Vietnam vet told him that back in those days
they'd throw down a radio beacon disk and the soldiers would gather around it.
The technology was good enough even 30 years ago that when the gunships came
to do the strike, the disk would send out a signal so that the Vietnam equivalent
to today's AC-130 wouldn't hit anything within a 20 yard area. They'd strafe
the Vietcong, leaving the soldiers within the circle unharmed.

\”Puff, the Magic Dragon\” was
a nickname for the AC-47D gunship. This plane was equiped with three 7.62 mm
gatling guns, each capable of 6,000 rounds per minute-that's 100 rounds a second.
It was use as a \”target suppressor,\” circling a target and laying
down massive fire to indiscriminately eliminate virtually every living thing
in the area-people and animals alike.
\”Puff
the Magic Dragon\”

\”Puff,
the Magic Dragon\” was used back in Vietnam and was the precursor to
today's gunship, both, however, have the call sign \”Spooky.\”

Today's AC-130 has a Gatling gun, which is a machine gun with
multiple barrels in a circle. Per my husband, the multiple barrels are needed
because so many rounds come through that it would heat up too quickly to be
effective.

Well, don't look now, but the AC-130s are back, arriving in Iraq
to take on the Iraqi resistance. These have awesome firepower.

These gunships are massive, with four engines, and became infamous
in the battle for Fallujah. They're slow moving gunships that also have long-range
video, infrared and radar sensors, which are high tech, sophisticated equipment.

Further stats are as follows, as far as I know. They have a 40
mm cannon, firing 120+ rounds/minute, as well as a 105 mm cannon, both of which
the AP confirms. These are big bullets and will kill everything, wiping out
whatever area they've targeted.

Boom, baby.

In Vietnam, stories I remember well, AC-130s were used along the
Ho Chi Minh Trail. They targeted convoys up and down that route and did a lot
of damage. In fact, stories were written that they wiped out thousands and thousands
of trucks, something the AP also talks about today.

The AC-130 gunship is used to obliterate the enemy, period. It's
not a walk softly weapon. As far as I know about warfare, the AC-130s are weapons that blanket a large area. Any vets reading, I'd appreciate any amplification
you can offer.

When we used the AC-130s in Fallujah the human rights groups went
ballistic. It's pseudo carpet bombing, baby, so it's quite a decision to once again use something like the AC-130, with it's Gatling gun, which is some serious firepower.

Think of it this way, back in the days of Vietnam, the Gatling
guns used sprayed a bullet every 6 inches or so, don't quote me, but I'm close.
Back with \”Puff,\” it was 6,000 rounds per minute, but today it's even
more lethal and sophisticated.

\”It's got tons of guns, and it's got all kinds of stuff on it that can be applied to the problems you have,\” Brig. Gen. Frank Gorenc, who refused to discuss the current AC-130 deployment, said in an AP interview. That \”stuff\” includes \”the ability to take these high-tech pods and to use them to find guys planting (bombs) and to find other nefarious activity,\” he said. The Predator drone — the MQ-1 unmanned aerial vehicle — has been a reconnaissance workhorse in Iraq, but Air Force officers say they don't have enough to meet demand for missions. The fiscal 2007 Defense Department budget proposed last month by the Bush administration envisions spending $1.6 billion on additional reconnaissance drones.

There's only one way to take this development. Things have turned
south and the commanders are worried about losing further control. The gunships
will either restore some control, or ratchet the violence up to such a level as to cause blowback
the likes of which we haven't seen since Fallujah.

Let's remember, if we knew where the enemy was we wouldn't be strafing them
with AC-130 gunships that wipe out large areas.

So much for hearts and minds, because with the AC-130s back in action, we
just kissed that part of our mission good-bye.

Guerilla warfare is a bitch and we're getting beat at it or we wouldn't be
bringing in these big guns again. Hold on to your seats, folks,
because it's shaping up to be a very noisy spring.