[size=4]Humanity of the Air War[/size=4]
[b]Look how far we’ve come.[/b]

Think airpower can't bring victory in Afghanistan? Think again. In May, 1919, Afghan Amir Amanullah invaded British India with a force of several thousand regulars and tribesmen. The invading forces were checked on the ground, and on May 23 a single RAF Handley Page V/1500 biplane bomber ("Old Carthusian") flown by Captain Robert "Jock" Halley dropped four bombs on Amanullah's palace in Kabul. The Amir quickly sued for peace and the war ended August 8th. By way of contrast, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar vowed to fight to the death after his house in Qandahar was destroyed by allied bombs. "We will succeed whether we live or die," he said. You have to admire his spunk, fighting to the last Afghan and all. I suppose that's the difference between a monarch who uses war as an instrument of policy and a messianic lunatic playing out his personal eschatology.
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Unfortunately there have also been civilian casualties. The number is disputed, and the Taliban is clearly attempting to harness the Western media to trumpet their claims that allied "saturation bombing" has destroyed homes, schools, clinics, and mosques. On al Jazeera TV ([b]the All Osama Network[/b]) October 16, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld expressed regret at the unintended casualties, but allowed that given the proximity of military targets to civilian areas, some losses are unavoidable. Paradoxically, sometimes the civilians themselves bear an element of responsibility — the reputation of Western munitions for accuracy misleads people to take significant risks.
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Critics of the air campaign at home and abroad make as much of civilian casualties as suits their purposes, but arguments over whether a few, a dozen, or hundreds of people have died only show how civilized warfare has become. Think back to the old way of conducting aerial bombardment. During the Second World War, "pinpoint" bombing meant taking out three city blocks to hit one building. Civilian casualties were inevitable, and accepted. In time, they were desired. The "noncombatant" was superseded by the "citizen as a cog" in the state's warmaking machinery. The worker, along with his wife and children, all supported the war in some way, thus were all legitimate targets. As the "terror bombing" concept evolved, high explosives were mixed with incendiary bombs to produce firestorms. [b]Dresden would have been the model for the future had it not been for the development of the atomic bomb[/b]. The nuclear era ushered in a deterrence model that held hundreds of millions of innocents hostage, threatening their annihilation in the name of stability.

We've come a long way since World War II. Recent conflicts have demonstrated that the best use of air power is not blindly to destroy, but to compel the enemy to do our will. It is less effective to threaten the innocent citizens than the decision makers themselves — personally. With precision-guided bombs and bunker-busting munitions we have developed the technology to do so. Knowing that every civilian death only made him stronger, Slobodan Milosevich did not take Operation Allied Force seriously until NATO discovered the location of his bunker and began to target him. Suddenly hanging on to Kosovo did not seem as important.

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Eric The(Historical)Hun[>]:)]

Good article!

I doubt firestorms would be effective in the vermin's nest as mud huts don't burn well.  I am also not sure that targeting only military targets will get the job done.  Certainly targeting the lunatic in charge is helpful, asassination being best of all, but leaders hate to do that and make themselves targets!!  I have thought for years the Israelies should whack Arafat!  Any war effort needs to be so intense and relentless as to make the entire population shake in fear.  If that requires attacks on cities intent on large civilian casualties then so be it.  In this war the civilians are part of the problem as they  clearly support the government.  This war could be over in but a few days if we had the stones to make Afganistan exist only in history and memory.  Turn it into glass.  Any moslem protest, turn THAT one into glass as well.  We can not be held hostage by these vermin.  We have the ability to kill all 1 billion of them if forced to do so.  I suspect even lunatics will surrender when faced with the certain  extermination of an entire religion!

Jesse Jackson got away with referring to the air campaign in Afghanistan as "carpet bombing" last week.  It was on the Mitch Albom show on WJR radio in Detroit (I believe the show is syndicated nationally).  The host, being the left leaning liberal that he is, either didn't know the difference, or chose to let it by.

I'm not sure why I listen to him, the attention whore always pisses me off !!

Range dog turn to 1240 and listen to Jim Cramers market report after Rush on 760. Albom is a sniviling failed sports writer. But the woman on the show is a total babe. Check her out on MSNBC when they simulcast the show. Then tune out, do not support this freak.

Gotcha Dale, I end up hearing a lot of radio during the commute.  I have sworn off listening to the show several times !!  And email the show if I hear something offensive.  (Like during the elections.)

 And if anyone doesn't know, Mitch Albom was a BIG part of trying to get the CCW in Michigan overturned, telling his audience how and where to find a petition to sign.  I classify him right down there with Rosie, Oprah, and all the rest....