I'll Pass on Boycotting the Olympics

If you wanted me to back a boycott of the Chinese Olympics, you should of talked to me when I was an idealistic teen. Back then I thought it was an appropriate response to Moscow when they invaded Afghanistan. I've since learned that this was a better response:

The massed deployment of the FIM-92A Stinger in Afghanistan tipped the scales in favour of the Mujahedeen insurgents who shot down large and medium transports, helicopters and significantly, tactical aircraft. This forced the Soviets to change their weapon delivery profiles much to the detriment of bombing accuracy.This in turn rendered Soviet air superiority meaningless, as the low density point targets typical of such warfare cannot be accurately hit from altitude with dumb weapons. The Soviets lost their greatest tactical advantage in the campaign and the result is evident in this year's reluctant withdrawal.

So maybe this was really an attempt to get the Chinese' attention.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Mar 26, 2008