The commenters from the left side of the “Let’s win this fight/Let’s lose this fight” bipole will NEVER be persuaded or understand that they do not know what they think they know. For example, to the “airstrikes of that size, that close to Baghdad,” I’d ask them what is the lethal radius of 500#, 1000# and 2000# JDAM’s, respectively. And how close to the laser designator do they actually strike? I am certain their response would be condemnation of JDAM’s, including snots and sneers. And the “why it has to resort to ‘shock and awe’ strategy”, I’d ask, why is it a “resort”? And I’d also ask, what are the various other options for destroying such targets, strengths and weaknesses, etc. And the snarky question, “So, if we’d sent in soldiers or Marines instead of aircraft, you’d accept US casualties in a trade off for potential civilian casualties?” We know their answer to this one. As Van der Leun says, “Their teeth will catch fire”. I work with someone who, having just said “It’s only about the oil” answered my question, “Well, where’s the oil” with an angry, “They screwed that up too!”. Really. If socialized medicine, er Universal Health Care can cure BDS, …hmmm.
