reaching out and touching someone.
Movies such as Eye in the Sky underscore how drones and controversial targeted strikes against terrorists have become almost inseparable in the public’s mind. Sure, we call it a “drone war,” but in truth, the Pentagon’s shadowy counterterror air campaign doesn’t always end with a small, silent robot firing a missile.
Sometimes, the attacking plane is huge, loud and full of human beings. The very opposite of a drone.
In December 2013, AC-130H Spectre gunships from the U.S. Air Force’s 16th Special Operations Squadron returned from their last operational deployment. During their time in Afghanistan that year, the heavily-armed planes — cargo-haulers modified to carry side-firing guns and cannons — broke up Taliban ambushes, attacked insurgent camps and provided cover for American and allied troops.
“[With] the sound of having a C-130 [gunship] overhead in operation, we have established to the enemy that you get to run away — you can run, but you’ll die tired,” Maj. Jeremy Sparks, the squadron’s commander, said in an official film commemorating the mission. War Is Boring obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act that highlight the role the gunships have played in the Pentagon’s kill chain.
mo
This Is How U.S. Air Force Gunships Hunted Terrorists in Afghanistan | War Is Boring
https://theintercept.com/document/2015/10/15/operation-haymaker/
Movies such as Eye in the Sky underscore how drones and controversial targeted strikes against terrorists have become almost inseparable in the public’s mind. Sure, we call it a “drone war,” but in truth, the Pentagon’s shadowy counterterror air campaign doesn’t always end with a small, silent robot firing a missile.
Sometimes, the attacking plane is huge, loud and full of human beings. The very opposite of a drone.
In December 2013, AC-130H Spectre gunships from the U.S. Air Force’s 16th Special Operations Squadron returned from their last operational deployment. During their time in Afghanistan that year, the heavily-armed planes — cargo-haulers modified to carry side-firing guns and cannons — broke up Taliban ambushes, attacked insurgent camps and provided cover for American and allied troops.
“[With] the sound of having a C-130 [gunship] overhead in operation, we have established to the enemy that you get to run away — you can run, but you’ll die tired,” Maj. Jeremy Sparks, the squadron’s commander, said in an official film commemorating the mission. War Is Boring obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act that highlight the role the gunships have played in the Pentagon’s kill chain.
mo
This Is How U.S. Air Force Gunships Hunted Terrorists in Afghanistan | War Is Boring
https://theintercept.com/document/2015/10/15/operation-haymaker/
