Reply #30: Shock and Awe did not target civilians? [View All]

[parasim]

This story in the nytimes talks about the military's plan to send 3,000 bombs and missiles to "shock" Iraq into submitting. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F6071FFE3E5B0C768CDDAA0894DB404482 (It's from 2003 and now archived so you would have to buy the article to read the whole thing)

-snip

THREATS AND RESPONSES: ATTACK STRATEGY; TOP GENERAL SEES PLAN TO SHOCK IRAQ INTO SURRENDERING

ABSTRACT - Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Richard B Myers says Pentagon war plan for Iraq entails shocking Iraqi leadership into submission quickly with attack markedly different from 43-day Persian Gulf war in 1991; declines to be specific but other military officials say plan calls for unleashing 3,000 precision guided bombs and missiles in first 48 hours of short air campaign, to be followed quickly by ground operations; gives stark warning that attack will result in Iraqi civilian casualties, despite military's best efforts to prevent them

-snip

Well, we sure did drop these bombs on Baghdad, a city the size of Atlanta.
Imagine even one bomb hitting the heart of a city the size of Atlanta.

General Meyers also said this at that time:

"But we can't forget that war is inherently violent," he said. "People are going to die. As hard as we try to limit civilian casualties, it will occur. We need to condition people that that is war. People get the idea this is going to be antiseptic. Well, it's not going to be."


So, apparently we target large cities (which are filled with civilians) so we can condition them that this is war? How can they possible believe that they can in any way limit civilian casualties by dropping 3000 bombs on Baghdad?