-- On 19 Oct 2004 at 14:46, John Young wrote:
you appear not to understand that much of current US military doctrine is aimed at terrorizing enemy forces, en masse, into submission, not merely courageously killing each combatant, mano a mano.
Carpet bombing, bunker-busting, cruise missles, stealth attacks, artillery barrages, and tactical and strategic attacks with overwhelming forces in multiples of the opposing force, the so-called "shock and awe," are intended to demoralize and terrify the opposition including civilian supporters. These attacks require little or no courage to execute, for most are accomplished with stand-off or remote-controlled platforms, guided by long-radar, GPS, and satellites, systems operated by clean-uniformed technicians who don't bear personal arms, even take showers daily and watch TV of their carnage for entertainment.
If only it were true. That is why I recommend readily achievable goals, like stealing the oil, rather than goals that require direct involvment mano a mano. But in reality, the US government is pursuing goals such as "building democracy" that require Americans to walk the streets of Baghdad, a daily exercise of tremendous courage. Here is my prescription for winning the war on terrorism We SHOULD rely on shock and awe, administered by men in white coats far from the scene. A number of governments are disturbingly tolerant of terror. Usually they are only tolerant of terror against their non Islamic subjects, and disapprove of external terror committed by their subjects against outsiders, but the two cannot readily be separated. One leads to the other. The US government should expose and condemn these objectionable practices, subvert moderately objectionable regimes, and annihilate more objectionable regimes. The pentagon should deprive moderately objectionable regimes of economic resources, by stealing their oil, destroying their water systems, and cutting off their trade and population movements with the outside world. Syria should suffer annihilation, Iran subversion, Sudan some combination of annihilation and subversion, Saudi Arabia and similar less objectionable regimes should suffer confiscation of oil, destruction of water resources, and loss of contact with the outside world. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG e1oHDIrpt6CyLSJ0viuvD+nsJlXpjVCUxG/FZL0R 4eteebtmUGC9WtT7zAMaOVdF81wmFCSz8fug2AQef