The "Suicide Bomber" Gap
Remember the good old days of the Old Cold War when the USA was worried about the Missile Gap with the USSR?
Now - in the New Cold War it appears we have a new "Suicide Bomber" Gap as RAF pilots asked to consider suicide flight
During a training exercise, Air Vice-Marshal David Walker put it to newly qualified pilots that they should think of flying suicide missions in a "worst case scenario" when a terrorist attack was imminent.The head of the RAF's elite One Group who is in operational control of Typhoon, Tornado, Jaguar and Harrier fighters and bombers, is reported to have asked the pilots: "Would you think it unreasonable if I ordered you to fly your aircraft into the ground in order to destroy a vehicle carrying a Taliban or al-Qaida commander?"
Hey! Great Swap - if this country wages a war of attrition like this we won't have any pilots or planes worth a damn!!
Lets do the maths:
Cost of Training of Pilot: £2 milllion (ish)
Cost of combat aircraft: £30-40 million (ish)
Total Cost: £30-40 million give or take a little bit
Cost of Enemy Combatant: £0 - volunteers always available, replacements easy to find, training costs fully subsidised ...
So why the sudden propaganda spasm?
Would it really be worth throwing the life of just one RAF pilot and his very expensive plane away to kill Bin Laden? It would make no sense at all ...
Unless the whole carefully contrived "leak" and "outrage" piece is designed to encourage disinformation amongst various factions that use suicide bombings as a force multiplier - leading to a percieved narrowing of the "suicide bomber" gap.
Of course - this whole story about "RAF Suicide Missions" has been leaked published just at a time when tensions between Iran and the UK are high - so I have no reason to disbelieve anything I read in mainstream media anyhow ...
Tags: kamikaze, raf, suicide bombings, force multiplier, missile gap