The Wall Street Journal explains why many believe the recent strike against Kataib Hezbollah’s officer — who orchestrated the attack that killed three American soldiers — was carried out by an R9X “Flying Ginsu”:

The modified Hellfire missile, which inside the military is referred to colloquially as “the flying Ginsu,” recalling the popular knives sold on TV infomercials in the 1970s, was used to target Abu Baqr al-Saadi, the leader of Kataib Hezbollah in Syria. The U.S. use of the Ginsu in the Baghdad strike hasn’t been previously disclosed.

The strike on al-Saadi, who was traveling in a car, was part of a retaliatory response to the Iranian-backed group for their role in attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, where a Jan. 28 attack on a base killed three American soldiers, the officials said.

The weapon, formally known as the R9X, is an inert Hellfire missile designed by the Pentagon and the CIA to kill terrorist leaders. It was employed, in part, because of concerns that killing innocent bystanders could inflame an already tense political situation in Iraq, which hosts roughly 2,500 American troops, the officials said.

Imagery of the strike on al-Saadi, showing the remnants of a burning but largely intact vehicle, was reminiscent of others involving the Ginsu. A weapon with an explosive warhead, like the traditional Hellfire missile, would have likely destroyed the vehicle.

. . .

The Ginsu, also sometimes referred to as the Ninja bomb, is designed to plunge more than 100 pounds of metal through the tops of cars and buildings to kill its target without harming individuals and property close by. Instead of exploding, it has telescoping knives that eject out of its nose at the moment of impact.

It is unclear how many times the Pentagon has used the weapon, but typically it is employed against high-profile individuals in areas where targeting them risks killing bystanders. Some U.S. defense officials say they believe al-Saadi may have been in a crowded part of the Iraqi capital because he thought he was safer among so many civilians.

A couple of points:

One, the U.S. is near-peerless (with Israel being her peer) at modulating its violence for any situation and has made a point of developing weapons and technologies to limit the damage to civilians while simultaneously producing pin-point munitions to deliver retribution into buildings, vehicles, and bunkers. That such kills can be done with what is, effectively, a KitchenAid blender strapped to an explosive-less missile, is amazing. We should continue to strive to conduct war as ethically as we have. It reflects well on us, whatever the Zinnian cranks will say to the contrary.

Two, may this new generation of terrorist leaders quickly learn to fear open skies and the idea of showing their faces in public. We, the United States, have no interest in smoke, but we will provide it if our hands are forced by jihadists who imagine themselves more than they are in their prosecution of violence against their countrymen and the West.

Staff Sergeant David Bellavia put this sentiment best when he said, “We don’t want war. But if you want war with the United States of America, there’s one thing I can promise you, so help me, God: Someone else will raise your sons and daughters.”