"US aircraft at Bagram air base in Afghanistan are coming under increasing attack.... from "many small songbirds, pigeons, Magpies, Hawks, and Black Kites,"..... now the military is seeking a private contractor to deal with the problem"
You sure they ain't "Taliban" birds?
Maybe we should just PACK UP and LEAVE instead.
"Air Force plans to enlist falcons' help
WASHINGTON - The US Air Force, a high-tech wonder of precision missiles and pilotless surveillance drones, is looking for a few good falcons.
Live falcons, that is, ones with feathers and talons, the kind that hunt mice and small birds. US aircraft at Bagram air base in Afghanistan are coming under increasing attack - not from Al Qaeda or Taliban fighters, but from "many small songbirds, pigeons, Magpies, Hawks, and Black Kites," according to a bid request for a bird control contract issued by the Army last month.
For more on Bagram and TORTURE, go HERE
Prior attempts at controlling the birds have failed. Personnel have shot "bangers and screamers" at the birds - rockets that can travel hundreds of yards as they give off a siren-like noise, followed by a loud bang. Shotguns have been tried, too. There were more than 100 bird strikes against aircraft taking off, landing, or taxiing at Bagram from January to August, a sharp increase from the 60 recorded in the same period last year, according to the contract solicitation. So now the military is seeking a private contractor to deal with the problem.
So OUR WAR and OCCUPATION is also KILLING BIRDS?
Do the HURTFUL ATROCITIES NEVER END?
Not for some war-looting contractor: Cha-CHING!!!!
Although the contractor can choose its own strategy for suppressing the avian insurgents, it is clear that falconry is among the favored techniques. The Army's contract notice says that "each bird must be capable of airfield operations and each falconer must demonstrate falconry skills and bird control capability using birds of prey."
The rise in bird strikes is because of more flights at Bagram as the pace of US military operations in the country has increased. The airfield - home to the Air Force's 455th Air Expeditionary Wing as well as Army and other coalition aircraft - is Afghanistan's busiest airfield.
(Blog author just shaking his head at the absurdity)
