U.S. Missile Goes Astray in Qatar

[kskiska]

Source: WP

A U.S. Army unit mistakenly launched a Patriot PAC-3 antiaircraft missile from an American base in the Persian Gulf country of Qatar, U.S. military officials said.

The PAC-3 missile, an upgraded version of the Patriot, landed nearby on a farm and caused no damage, the Qatari military said, according to a statement carried by the Qatar News Agency. The land, about four miles north of the base at Camp As Sayliyah, may be owned by Qatari royal Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, said an official at Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East.

(snip)

Military officials were reluctant to discuss the incident, partly because it is embarrassing and partly because the government of Qatar prefers that the U.S. military maintains a low profile in that country.

The missile was fired by Battery A, 3rd Battalion of the 43rd Air Defense Artillery while it was training, the Central Command official said. PAC-3 missiles cost more than $4 million each, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a defense think tank.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101601657.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

[TheDebbieDee]

1. "Mistakenly launched a Patriot PAC-3 antiaircraft missile?"

I don't think so!

[Flabbergasted]

4. I'm not a military guy but I suspect accidentally lauching a Patriot...

would be as easy as accidentally flying nukes across the country.

[sce56]

5. Having been in three ADA units I can say it would be a lot easier to screwup with a SAM than a Nuke!

Of course the old Nike Program included Nuclear tipped missiles. Before my time.

[IndianaGreen]

8. We also mistakenly loaded real atomic warhead cruise missiles on a B-52 a few weeks back

The breakdown of internal controls in the military is astonishing!

[Dhalgren]

2. Good gods! This is insane! It is going to be some stupid crap like this

that sets the whole fucking place afire! If a missile lands in Iranian territory, there is no one on this planet who would believe that it was an "accident". These moronic assholes are going to keep throwing lighted matches into the gunpowder barrel until it blows-up...for fucks sake...

[Amonester]

3. Yep. Pretty crazy dumb eeeee--aaaahh! Hey?

Oil peaks an all-times' high at 88 because Turkey's upset...

Just try to imagine where the sky's limit will be starting when an (ummm) 'accident' like this happens in Iran...

Everybody freeze the winter out! :scared:

[FREEWILL56]

9. I can see it now.

The soldier says, "Oops, did I do that? My bad." while bush pins a medal on him for making it easier on him starting another war.

As to the oil industry it will go out of sight soon and inflation will follow it as it has already started to do. That asshole illegally occupying the white house has really screwed us all over. Freeze this winter? Maybe not as I heard there's a burning bush down in dc or is it a bush burning?:grr: :rofl:

[EFerrari]

6. If I was the mommy of the US military, they'd be on a time out right now.

Nukes flying all over the place, launching missiles at farms? :wtf:

[Robbien]

7. One missile costs four million bucks?

And they give this four million dollar baby to trainees to use in practice trials?

[truthisfreedom]

10. So what? gw bush mis-launched 180,000 Patriots and Congress is too chickensh*t to do anything about

it.