Moti , Hyperion, Ruddock, Merkava, al-Moqawama

abc
Most inappropriate metaphor of the week:
For some reason the Australian Foreign minister Downer (famous fishnet stocking wearer) is trying to get the Solomon Islands Attorney-General, Julian Moti, extradited from Port Moresby.
The petulant scolding attitude the Aus Govt adopts (as opposed to the smirking of GWB) seems to have annoyed the Solomons PM, and the PNG govt. Aus is throwing its police|military around the near Pacific "failed States" and appears to be getting a reaction to its neo-colonial posturing.
Anyway, Moti's lawyer said the charge against Moti, of rape of a 13 year old girl in Vanuatu in 1997, has been heard in a trial in Vanuatu, and Moti has been found innocent. The lawyer said the Aus Govt is trying to get “a second bite of the cherry for the same offences”

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A redwood ..the world’s tallest tree .. Hyperion, 379.1 feet tall,..previous record.. ..370.5-foot-tall Stratosphere ..

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abc Ruddock may allow researchers access to banned books

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The Hezbollah fighters hit sixty tanks, total destroying twelve and killing about 30 crew members in 34 days of fighting. The Israeli Army is likely reassessing its strategy with the Merkava.
* The anti-tank threat emerged as the most serious challenge to the IDF. Operating Kornet-E and Metis-M anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), Hizbullah successfully destroyed 14 Israeli Merkava Mk 2, 3 and 4 main battle tanks. In response, the Israeli MoD has ordered Rafael Armament Development Authority to accelerate preparations for production of its Trophy active protection system (APS) for future IDF procurement. Israel Military Industries has also been asked to complete development of its APS, dubbed Iron Fist, for IDF evaluation.

[Active defence - anti-missile missiles, thats a 2nd order of difficulty. I'm guessing that most would miss. And could be swamped by batches of cheap,older ATMs fired before new expensive Kornets
.. 'active' may include reactive armour, missiles or some sort of hemispherical shock front, all of which can be depleted.]

In Vietnam the 'tunnels of Cu Chi' were eventually neutralised by saturation bombing from B52s
The VC couldnt build deep because they would get buried as the top layerscollapsed. In Gulf War I the Iraq troops in shallow desert bunkers were simply buried alive with bulldozers.
How HA built survivable bunkers in South Lebanon isnt clear. Reports are they were 40m deep. Perhaps the use of reinforced concrete ensured survivability. Or the extensive artillery bombardment form IDF was not equivalent to B52s?
Gas|blast tight doors surely required. The Vietnamese uses water filled sumps (ugh!) The USA is planning nuclear 'bunker busters' but they would emit large plumes of radiation, not desirable 4km from your own border. Its unclear how long the USA would last if they or their proxy used nukes. Venezuela & Iran would close the taps, and USAnians wouldnt be welcome anywhere outside their borders. China & Russia wold move to sequester the worlds oil. It would be the end of the USA. Which is not to say the Cheney regime will forbear.]
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Hezbollah's armed wing, al-Moqawama al-Islamia (Islamic Resistance), described Israel's main battle-tank as "a toy for the rockets of the resistance" (al-Manar TV, August 11).
Moti Hyperion Ruddock Merkava al-Moqawama