Aussie troops blow up own vehicle - Polidicks

[quote]AUSTRALIAN troops in Afghanistan were forced to call in an air strike on one of their own vehicles after it was crippled by an insurgent IED, reports say. Soldiers in the vehicle were shaken but unhurt in the insurgent blast which immobilized the vehicle, Sky News reports. Commander of all Australian forces in Afghanistan Major General John Cantwell said insurgents hit a joint force of Australian and Afghan security forces as they conducted a patrol in a remote area of Oruzgan province on Monday. Afghan security forces walking nearby received only minor wounds in the blast. Insurgents then opened fire. Australian officers decided it was best to evacuate the Bushmaster and destroy it rather than risk lives and equipment trying to retrieve the badly damaged vehicle. It was stripped of all sensitive equipment. Soldiers withdrew a safe distance and it was obliterated by a pair of bombs dropped by a coalition aircraft. It is just the second time in Afghanistan that Australian forces have been forced to destroy rather than extract a damaged vehicle. Major General Cantwell said it was not possible to save the Australian-made vehicle because of the difficult terrain and risk to lives. "The longer they stayed on the ground the more vulnerable they were going to be to insurgent fire," he said. "It shook them up a bit, but happily they were uninjured." [/quote] [url=http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/aussie-troops-blow-up-own-vehicle/story-e6frfku0-1225842034667]Source[/url] I saw this headline on the source website and I burst out laughing.

Yep, there goes a failure for my country.

Pussies.

Yeah, but it's not anywhere near as funny when you actually read the rest of it.

its actually a very sound tactic. Better to leave the vehicle than risk lives trying to get it back.

Prime directive : Do not let jawas steal baja truck.

Scorched earth tactics have been used for centuries, they are far from stupid.

Well, yeah, what else are they gonna do? A) Go get it, exposing yourself for a long period of time B) Leave it and retreat, allowing their enemies to capture it and use it against them or C) Destroy it

Aussie vehicles are now banned in Afghanistan.

[QUOTE=benos;20794236]Aussie vehicles are now banned in Afghanistan.[/QUOTE] hurf durf im so funny

[QUOTE=benos;20794236]Aussie vehicles are now banned in Afghanistan.[/QUOTE] :downsrim:

[QUOTE=stealth_camo;20794242]hurf durf im so funny[/QUOTE] I didn't laugh, you didn't even tell your joke.

:australia: Oh my country

[QUOTE=w 1 z;20794115]Pussies.[/QUOTE] :fireman: And this is one of them.

Armored vehicles are now banned in Australia. :colbert:

[QUOTE=benos;20794236]Aussie vehicles are now banned in Afghanistan.[/QUOTE] Lol n1 m8

This just in: The internet bans original attempts at humor.

Is this not a valid tactic? The UK had to destroy 2 downed Chinooks as they were immoblised on the ground in Afghanistan, rather than let them fall into enemy hands they were destroyed by airstrike.

[quote]AUSTRALIAN troops in Afghanistan were forced to call in an air strike on one of their own vehicles after it was crippled by an insurgent IED, reports say.[/quote] I thought they called an air-strike on themselves by accident. Was about to say that its not like it hasn't happened to me in video games.

[QUOTE=benos;20794273]I didn't laugh, you didn't even tell your joke.[/QUOTE] How about Fuck You.

Fuck me, you gotta know.

This just in: Australia bans explosions. All Michael Bay films retracted from cinemas.

I don't see the problem here. I think the officers made the right choice by destroying the vehicle rather than risking lives waiting for a recovery vehicle while under fire. [img]http://defense-update.com/images/bushmaster.jpg[/img] That is what they destroyed by the way, an Australian made "Infantry Mobility Vehicle", which is basically just a cross between a car and a light APC.

Should've used the self destruct button.

This isn't really all that new. I thought destruction of unsalvageable vehicles has been standard procedure for a long time now.

I came in here expecting that the aussies destroyed one of their vehicles and killed their men by accident Did not deliver

Uhh, they do this all the time.

[quote=queenelizebeth;20794106][url="http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/aussie-troops-blow-up-own-vehicle/story-e6frfku0-1225842034667"]source[/url] i saw this headline on the source website and i burst out laughing.[/quote] don't drive you'll blow us up!

Well they really bombed it on that mission.

[QUOTE=hehe;20794132]its actually a very sound tactic. Better to leave the vehicle than risk lives trying to get it back.[/QUOTE] They usually do that anyway. It isn't rare, a helicopter can go down and instead of going to retrieve it and risk lives they'll blow it up. They do that with insurgent weapons and bombs, instead of taking them and storing them they will put all the gear together and destroy it. I mean you figured insurgents are pretty smart as is and can almost build anything from scraps, just think what they could do with parts from army vehicle The saying "If i can't have it, no body will" comes in to mind.