26/09/2014
In its classic
Boys Own way, the
Mail is
drooling over the RAF's preparations for bombing raids in Iraq, using Storm Shadow "bunker busters".
As we get some of the gushing stats related to these munitions, there is a curious omission â the cost. As we observed earlier, this is the famous
million pound bomb. In fact, 900 of these things
actually cost £981 million.
For the debate in Parliament today, though, this is the sort of detail that should be aired. Mr Cameron will be sending Tonkas in at £33,000 an hour, to lob million-pound ordnance at targets which are probably a fraction of the value of the weapon systems used.
Therein lies the essential conundrum in asymmetric warfare, where the costs of delivering an effect are vastly out of proportion to the value of the targets. And, in a country where life is cheap, the chances are that our enemies can afford to bear more losses than we can afford to create.
Of course, the targeting videos are great theatre, keeping the media entertained and on-side. But one suspects that Islamic State fighters are going to be less impressed, and certainly underwhelmed.
One cannot pretend here, that we have the answers, but drive-by landscaping with million-pound bombs isn't one of them.
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