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Suicidal camels as weapon
Some recently-translated Iraqi documents suggest Sadaam was considering use of explosive-laden camels in suicide attacks.
Puts me in mind of a couple of proposals to use critters as weapons. In the 19th century, the army experimented with a mule-mounted cannon. Use the mule as a tripod (quadripod?), turn the gun sideways, and fire. Problem was the recoil knocked the mule down, and then it refused to get up unless that strange thing was taken off its back.
In WWII on the eastern front one side, I believe the Soviets, trained dogs to run under tanks, by putting their food there. Then an explosive charge was mounted on the dog's back, with a rod extending upward linked to the fuse. Dog runs under tank, rod initiates detonation. Problem developed that the dogs were smarter than they'd expected. They could tell the difference between friendly tanks and enemy ones, and had been trained that food was to be found under the *friendly* tanks, so they went for them.
{update: thanks to reader Bill Bailey, here's a webpage on use of animals in war. I've heard of the proposals for pigeon-aimed smart bombs, and I believe the British explored a cat-aimed one (drop it on a ship, cat sees ship, cat sees water, cat hates water and aims for ship. Didn't work, of course).
This has been done - with donkeys instead of camels - by Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank.
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