February 22, 2008

Choose your Weapon

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What it is

How it works

Where it’s used

How much it costs

When the U.S. began using it

MQ-1 Predator

A 27-foot- long, unmanned aircraft. Typically armed with Hellfire missiles.

Operated remotely, from ground- control stations in California, Nevada, North Dakota, and Arizona

According to news reports, has been used in Pakistan and Yemen; also utilized in Iraq and Afghanistan

At least $40 million

Afghanistan, 2002

Hellfire missile

A laser-guided, 100 pound munition with enough firepower to take out a tank

Dubbed “fire and forget,” is typically shot from Predators

Reportedly used in Panama, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Pakistan

An estimated $25,000

Panama, 1989

Bugsplat, formally “FAST-CD” (Fast Assessment Strike Tool—Collateral Damage)

Software program that predicts the collateral damage from a bomb. Used with Hellfire missiles.

Considers terrain, size of weapon, altitude, angle, and speed from which a bomb will be dropped

Used widely

Developed by U.S. military

First approved for use in 2002

AC-130 gunship

Heavily armed, 97-foot 9-inch aircraft with 4 turbo-prop engines. Carries high-caliber cannons fitted with guiding systems.

Can deliver surgical strikes. Also can orbit an area and saturate it with firepower.

Many wars, beginning with Vietnam. Used in the war on terror, reportedly for targeted killings in Somalia in 2007.

$190 million

Vietnam, 1967

JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition)

Guidance kit that converts unguided, 500-to-2,000 pound bombs into precision-guided “smart” munitions

Dropped from fighter jets or bombers; GPS and Inertial Navigation Systems enable the bomb to hit fixed or “relocatable” targets.

Yugoslavia; In war on terror, in
Iraq and Afghanistan

Approximately $20,000

Yugoslavia, 1999

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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