# OMG what if we don't find any WMD?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-what-if-we-dont-find-any-wmd/164060>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 25, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-what-if-we-dont-find-any-wmd/164060 "2003-03-25T16:57:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Simbelmyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Simbelmyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simbelmyne)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-what-if-we-dont-find-any-wmd/164060/101 "2003-03-28T23:29:13Z")

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as long as the right people are DOA

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-what-if-we-dont-find-any-wmd/164060/102 "2003-03-29T00:44:15Z")

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Isn’t a B-52, properly loaded with modern conventional bombs, a WMD?  
It can obliterate a very large area in one pass. Of course there’ll be significant collateral damage, but some want to allow that anyway.

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**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-what-if-we-dont-find-any-wmd/164060/103 "2003-03-29T01:04:50Z")

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A Weapon of Mass Destruction is any single weapon that can produce the same amount of damage as many many waepons. A B-52 is a delivery system. It does not destroy things as it brings the stuff that destroy things.

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-what-if-we-dont-find-any-wmd/164060/104 "2003-03-29T01:13:03Z")

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I don’t know 'bout that, **X~Slayer(ALE)**. I saw the effects of carpet bombing in Vietnam, and it was pretty massive. And now we have smart bombs, which could deploy even more efficiently.  
It’s not the gun, it’s the bullet.  
Intelectually, though, I know what you mean.

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-what-if-we-dont-find-any-wmd/164060/105 "2003-03-29T01:21:32Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mangeorge \*  
> \*\*  
> It’s not the gun, it’s the bullet. \*\*

Sometimes, though [it’s both.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,874913,00.html)

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-what-if-we-dont-find-any-wmd/164060/106 "2003-03-29T01:34:44Z")

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So they’re gonna smack them over the head with a “super gun”?  
\*\*From a long ago arguement in a gun thread, where one poster said that it isn’t the gun that does damage, it’s the bullet. The reply went something like “You wouldn’t say that if I hit you over the head with the gun”.  
Much paraphrasing there.

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