Man, I love stories like this...

[Goofball]

They just make me giggle.

Nothing better than hearing about a suicide bomber so inept that all he accomplishes with his attack is to blow himself up.

His family must be so proud of him...

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...path=News/News

Suicide bomber hits Canadian convoy
Sep. 27, 2006. 10:13 AM


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) — A suicide bomber attacked a Canadian convoy on Wednesday, injuring an Afghan civilian but failing to hurt any Canadians.
The attack took place about a kilometre from the base of the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team in the city of Kandahar.
A Nyala RG-31 heavily armoured jeep was damaged in the blast but managed to limp to the PRT camp with smoke billowing from under the hood.
“Thank God everyone is OK,” said Maj. Scott Campbell, an Ottawa native and the senior officer on the convoy.
“I’m a little shaky, a little happy, and confident in the equipment. There’s a couple of little bruises here and there, but everyone is good.”
Canada bought dozens of the South African-built Nyala vehicles in March specifically for their ability to survive mines and roadside bombs.
The convoy was returning from a re-supply mission to a Canadian firebase to the west of Kandahar. A while vehicle drove into the side of the Nyala before detonating. Minutes later, the convoy — including the Nyala with blown out tires and shattered glass — rolled into camp.

[Somebody Else]

I suppose our Snatches have been lulling them into some sense of confidence...

[Scurvy]

They just make me giggle.

Nothing better than hearing about a suicide bomber so inept that all he accomplishes with his attack is to blow himself up.

His family must be so proud of him...

--> he did injure an afghan, which makes it sligthly less funny (ie. almost succeeded in killing someone)

His family must be so proud of him...

I feel really sorry for his family

[Ice]

Every single jeep used should be heavily armored for situations like this.

[Grey_Fox]

A guy I 'know' on a different forum went through the same thing, only the bomb didnt go off so the wannabe suicide bomber got out and started throwing grenades at the convoy. It took something in the region of a dozen bullets to put him down since the Talibs have a habit of injecting themselves with adrenaline, making themselves impervious to pain and only a shot to the brain, spine or heart will do them in.

Successful or not, it's not something to make fun of.

It's not surprising the vehicle made it back under it's own power, it's designed specifically to be able to take roadside bombs and live to tell the tale.



If it had been some other, less armoured variant, it's very likely there would have been more injured and dead.

[Samurai Waki]

We need to switch from the Crappy Humvees to the Nyalas.

[yesdachi]

No kidding, that thing looks sweet! Anyone with any personal knowledge about them? Is there a downside (aside from the fact it looks ginormous)?

[RabidGibbon]

Originally posted by Grey Fox

the Talibs have a habit of injecting themselves with adrenaline, making themselves impervious to pain and only a shot to the brain, spine or heart will do them in.

Is that true? It sounds a bit Urban Mythish to me, I mean where do the Taliban get their stocks of Adrenalin from? Is it Adrenalin or is it just Heroin and opium and all that jazz that they grow - although surely they'd be intoxicants and not allowed by the Qu'aran. Anyway I don't know, but it just sounds a little far fetched.

As for the Nyala's, I think there from South Africa, which is their downside. ie: If your army buys them then the newspapers start screaming about why are national firms being neglected in favour of foreign firms etc etc.

In fact I can see the Sun's headline now :- Land Rover lays off 1,000 as MOD buys nasty foreign vehicle shock horror!

[Kralizec]

No kidding, that thing looks sweet! Anyone with any personal knowledge about them? Is there a downside (aside from the fact it looks ginormous)?

Yes- there aren't that many of them, and if they're to replace all your Humvees- that's going to take a LOOONG time.
Our Ministry of Defense thought of getting them for Afghanistan and even they thought it wasn't feasonable to get them in large enough numbers.

[DemonArchangel]

Humvees are quite good at plowing obstacles out of their way, and going over them if that's not possible. However, their weakness in structural integrity comes from the fact that it lacks a blast deflecting V-hull (weak floor), and is rather low to the ground for a military vehicle. Also, its suspension would never be able to handle all of the armor the Nyala carries.

What should be done is that Humvees should be issued to say.... police departments, and then the military purchases the company that makes the Nyala, or at least use these:
http://www.ericsiegmund.com/fireant/...ages/M1117.jpg instead of Humvees.

[Samurai Waki]

That thing looks like a Russian BRDM.

What we need to do is figure out how to build a few of these things

[Goofball]

A guy I 'know' on a different forum went through the same thing, only the bomb didnt go off so the wannabe suicide bomber got out and started throwing grenades at the convoy. It took something in the region of a dozen bullets to put him down since the Talibs have a habit of injecting themselves with adrenaline, making themselves impervious to pain and only a shot to the brain, spine or heart will do them in.

Successful or not, it's not something to make fun of.

I disagree. I believe that anybody who attempts to be a suicide bomber and can't even pull that simple task off properly deserves all of the scorn and mockery that can possibly be heaped upon them.

[Somebody Else]

I disagree. I believe that anybody who attempts to be a suicide bomber and can't even pull that simple task off properly deserves all of the scorn and mockery that can possibly be heaped upon them.

Reminds me of a play I put on at school once... We had a Japanese pilot on his 7th kamikaze mission (we blamed joysticks made in Taiwan).

[yesdachi]

Humvees are quite good at plowing obstacles out of their way, and going over them if that's not possible. However, their weakness in structural integrity comes from the fact that it lacks a blast deflecting V-hull (weak floor), and is rather low to the ground for a military vehicle. Also, its suspension would never be able to handle all of the armor the Nyala carries.

What should be done is that Humvees should be issued to say.... police departments, and then the military purchases the company that makes the Nyala, or at least use these:
http://www.ericsiegmund.com/fireant/...ages/M1117.jpg instead of Humvees.

The Humvees serve a role in the military (successor to the jeep, the reason we won WW2) and allow fast and easy maneuverability, but I think we try and use them for jobs too big for what they were intended.

Nyala should give a contract to an American car company, they seem to have lots of extra buildings and people available that could build them.

[Samurai Waki]

Nyala should give a contract to an American car company, they seem to have lots of extra buildings and people available that could build them.

Well I'm sure thats probably been put on the table before. But there is probably a reluctance from both sides. The Producers of Nyala, for one, don't want any competition, so if they sold their design to a US manufacturer, they would instantly lose, because our production capacity is miles further than South Africa's will ever be.

On the flip side of the coin, the US military would show some reluctance, because historically speaking, I don't think since the Civil War, Foreign Manufactured Arms/Armour has been seen in our mainstream military forces. Our special forces might use HKs, but thats about the peak of our willingness to use foreign made weapons, whether for better or for worse (which in my humble opinion is worse.)

I'm sure eventually there will be an American Competitor, but alas, time is always of the essence in warfare, and the bloody thing in Iraq/Afghanistan could be done and over with before it ever sees the use it was intended for.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I disagree. I believe that anybody who attempts to be a suicide bomber and can't even pull that simple task off properly deserves all of the scorn and mockery that can possibly be heaped upon them.

I heartily agree. I wonder what the Islamic terrorist guidelines are for just blowing yourself up...do you get any virgins? Maybe a reduced number?

Crazed Rabbit

[Dutch_guy]

I heartily agree. I wonder what the Islamic terrorist guidelines are for just blowing yourself up...do you get any virgins? Maybe a reduced number?

Crazed Rabbit

You know, were he a christian martyr he'd be in Hell right now, right ? How is a suicide interpreted in the Qu'aran, does one go to Hell there too - or is there some other...solution ?

Or is it simply thought that counts...

[Tsavong]

That Nyalas thing lookes quite usefill for protroling and stuff, any one know any info in what the British army is getting to replace its Land Rovers i remember hereing something in the news a wile back.

[ajaxfetish]

I remember after all the controversy about humvee's in Iraq not being equipped with armor plating, and then getting destroyed by bombs or rockets, and later talking to a friend who had served as a marine during the early part of the war who was glad not to have the armor. He said the armored ones moved too slowly to get out of hot spots, and he felt safer in the lighter, faster version.

I wonder how the Nyala's speed and maneuverability compare to a humvee. If it can compete with the American vehicle in those aspects I'm all for it. If not, I think each of the two vehicles has it's own niche where it will outperform the other. It's just an issue of assigning the right vehicles to the right tasks, which may not necessarily be done well, unfortunately.

Ajax

[whyidie]

Pure second hand conjecture here, but I'll throw it in the mix.

A co-worker of mine who is now on his second tour in Iraq said the Humvees were too cumbersome when they were chasing down potential insurgents. He said they were in lighter pickups and could outmaneuver them easily. I don't know whether he was referring to the armored or non armored models.

[Kralizec]

You know, were he a christian martyr he'd be in Hell right now, right ? How is a suicide interpreted in the Qu'aran, does one go to Hell there too - or is there some other...solution ?

Or is it simply thought that counts...

Suicide is not explicitly forbidden in the Bible. However most view suicide as they do murder, a sin.
Of course if you allow yourself to be killed for some higher purpose that wouldn't be suicide but sacrifice (no one would say you comitted suicide if you jump in front of a car to push a kid out of the way)

I have a hunch that it's the same for the Qu'ran.

[rory_20_uk]

[QUOTE=Grey_Fox]It took something in the region of a dozen bullets to put him down since the Talibs have a habit of injecting themselves with adrenaline, making themselves impervious to pain and only a shot to the brain, spine or heart will do them in.QUOTE]

Doubt adrenaline would be used. Taking that IV is likely to cause an MI. If not has a half life of a few seconds.

Much better would be speed / cocaine or preferably PCP.

As doctors we've been told that someone who'se overdosed on PCP will basically not stop until they burn their own muscles our or are killed comprehensively.

Basically they feel no pain, and use their muscles to their full potential without any of the usual protective feedback mechanisms.

[yesdachi]

Rodney King was on PCP and we all saw the video of that.