For those of you playing along at home, the circular error probability of a Minuteman III ICBM is 120m, and its range is 13,000km.  We would also have accepted 200m for those of you with older reference material.  Not bad for an upgraded 1960’s design.  To put it in gun-person terms, that’s sub-MOA at a stationary target located halfway across the world.

In related news, Iran has unveiled underground silos for their missile force.  I guess they hope that deep holes make for untouchable missiles or something.  My guess is that hitting within 120m of a missile silo with a 400-500 kiloton payload would do enough damage to make it inoperable.  You don’t have to destroy the bullets, you just have to disable the gun.

The image I have when I think of Iran is the little dog that keeps nipping at a bigger dog because he doesn’t believe the big dog will ever take the time to bite back.  Someday, that big dog chews the little dog in half, and I think that someday with Iran is not far off.

Someone needs to tell the Iranian government that any use of a Shahab-3 from one of these silos against any of the countries we care about will be considered an act of war against the United States.  Heaven help them if they mate an atomic weapon up to one and give it a whirl.  Nothing says “Regional Stabilization” like a set of mushroom clouds over Iranian launch sites.

I know, I know, the syllabus says nothing about quizzes.  Add/Drop forms are available from the TA.

Captain TightPants pointed me over to this civics quiz, and unlike a lot of other quizzes I’ve taken, this one is actually about civics, not the latest topics in the headlines.

I got a 96.97% when I missed one.  How did y’all do?

On Sunday, a beautiful little 8 year old girl walked up to a police car carrying a bag.  She had been asked to carry the bag to the policemen by someone she trusts.  When she approached the car, a remote receiver in the bag caused the explosives in it to detonate, killing her.

This is our enemy.  Whether they are in Kabul, or Riyadh, or London, or Detroit, the enemies of liberal Western democracy are prepared to kill anyone and use any means to hurt us.  They will use our freedoms, our openness, our trust, and even our children to kill us.

If you’re a parent, a grandparent, or an uncle or aunt, think about the small children you love.  What madness would it take for you to hand one of them a satchel charge?  We are not dealing with a rational foe.  Negotiation is nothing but a delaying tactic.  Mercy is seen as weakness.  While the president of Afghanistan rails against the accidental deaths of civilians in combat, nothing will be said about using children or other helpless members of society as weapon delivery systems.

I advocate leaving the Dar al-Islam to its own ends.  If they want democracy, theocracy, or anarchy, let them have it.  But we should never forget their stated goal of forcing us to believe and behave in the same way they do, and that they will use whatever means they can find to accomplish that goal.