US missiles hit Saudi Arabia

Mad:
The Tomahawks arm themselves at some point shortly before they reach their pre-programmed target. I'm quite sure that the arming doesn't take place, however, a split second before reaching the target. Thus, if you assume that the marketplace was hit by a Tomahawk (which has not yet been confirmed or proven false), several scenarios are possible.

  1. The marketplace was an intended target and and the programming was correctly done;
  2. The marketplace was not the intended target but something in the area was. The missile was incorrectly programmed, missed its intended target and hit the incorrectly programmed target.
  3. The missile malfunctioned after arming itself and hit an unintended and non-programmed target.

No matter how advanced technology gets, there is never to be a perfect end-product that will never malfunction. Shuttles blow up, planes crash, computers lock up or get the blue screen of death, and missiles malfunction.

All that said, the Pentgon is usually pretty good about ultimately admitting responsibility for errant bombings or causing civilian deaths after completing a thorough investigation. Let's wait for the final verdict to come in before convicting anyone of this event.

[quote]
All that said, the Pentgon is usually pretty good about ultimately admitting responsibility
[/quote]

you mean when documents-are-declassified-20-years-later ultimately?

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by myvoice: *
Mad:
The Tomahawks arm themselves at some point shortly before they reach their pre-programmed target. I'm quite sure that the arming doesn't take place, however, a split second before reaching the target. Thus, if you assume that the marketplace was hit by a Tomahawk (which has not yet been confirmed or proven false), several scenarios are possible.

  1. The marketplace was an intended target and and the programming was correctly done;
  2. The marketplace was not the intended target but something in the area was. The missile was incorrectly programmed, missed its intended target and hit the incorrectly programmed target.
  3. The missile malfunctioned after arming itself and hit an unintended and non-programmed target.

No matter how advanced technology gets, there is never to be a perfect end-product that will never malfunction. Shuttles blow up, planes crash, computers lock up or get the blue screen of death, and missiles malfunction.

All that said, the Pentgon is usually pretty good about ultimately admitting responsibility for errant bombings or causing civilian deaths after completing a thorough investigation. Let's wait for the final verdict to come in before convicting anyone of this event.
[/QUOTE]

I also heard that if the weather conditions are not correctly predicted a target could be off by 200-500 yards.