How many bullets?
by Volker Weber
How many bullets do US forces need for every insurgent killed? Make a wild guess. Multiply by 100. Then look up the number. How did you do?
Comments
I don't get the purpose of this post on this weblog: is it funny? Interesting? Are wars becoming more and more violent? Does it make the US forces look more stupid? Does it make the victims more victimized?
If we would put in the mean amount of ammunition and other materials used by other armies/nations/liberators/occupiers/groups/dictators(*) to kill their victims/opponents/rebels/criminals/resistance/terrorists(*), would that make the information even more funny/interesting/violent/stupid/victimized?
(*): pick the the best matching word
Maybe the start of a PhD on the subject of "The amount of ammunition and other materials needed to kill a victim in the 1600 - 2005 era"?
Sander, while I largely agree with your posting, for me the original posting _only_ symbolizes the futility of war - by stating a sheer unbelievable number (I was wrong by a factor of 10...)
Frank, you get it.
I wonder if these are 'smart' bullets that disarm themselves when it is obvious they will miss their intended target?
@Sander. Apparently there still exists a small group which needs reminding that the architects of this military action couldn't organize a two-car parade. Volker is welcome to provide that reminder. When logic fails, blunt instruments and ridicule are all that remain.
I believe that the premise of the question is flawed.
The original article is flame bate.
>>... US forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan ...
>>... largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq ...
So, how many bullets was the US shooting in Iraq & Afganistan before they went to war? Is the 1.8 billion number limited to Iraq & Afganastan or not?
From the article, with no other sources, I can figure that the "before war" bullet usage was somewhat less than 900 million / year , I would expect that they guy in harms way would probably put in some extra target practice as the result of being in a war zone (understandable I think).
How about comparing the number of bullets used to the number of Osama Bin Ladens killed or captured. 1.8 billion/0 = ERROR. Or some other useless measure.
