Great. Here come the U.S. = Hitler allusions. I thought we were above this...

Review: The emphasis with the "shock and awe" tactic is *avoiding* casualties on the other side. In WWII there were no precision-guided munitions, thus, a shock and awe offensive couldn't actually occur.

Well, since the war isn't over yet, I guess it is legit to pull this and other Iraq war threads back to the top of the stack...not sure precisely why I'm picking your post, but I think it is something about the "shock and awe offensive couldn't occur".

I had read the S&A piece a bit before Brad's initial post. No huge surprises -- pretty much a standard war college piece that tries to pull in recent trends/technologies. Some of it seemed awefully formulaic..."Hmmm, who can we get to write the section on info tech?"...bordering on filler.

In fairness, this thing was never intended to become the subject of briefings and CNN analyses. The main author was interviewed last week and bemoaned the dimensions of the "Shock and Awe" media exposure and simplistic hype.

Now the the invasion is well underway, one of the most interesting (sometimes distressing) things is to watch the media and their spin and terminology. Late last week, local news programs in Seattle led with lines like: "Shock and Awe. The attack on Iraq has begun..." To me (and this might just be jaded Jim), the unspoken implication of this repetitive "S&A" party line on the part of CNN and most US news outlets was that S&A was a completed fact -- that it was *obviously* working.

I don't have any solid predictions on how this is all going to go in strictly tactical terms. The invasion was not completed in 24 hours as some of the most naive, testosterone-laden Garry Owens had expected, but that does not mean that it will turn into the months or years-long quagmire that others expect.

While I think the US-led forces sure enjoy huge technical and logistical advantages, these may be progressively neutralized by the particular nature of the war and Iraqui tactical opportunities, some of which are generally held to be disagreeable or immoral (read: situate combatants in non-combatant areas).

After some of the less-than-uplifting news stories of the weekend -- casualties, prisoners, extended supply lines, and unexpected pockets of resistance -- I don't think I am hearing CNN, networks and the local news stations parrot "Shock and Awe" quite so much.

We face a bit of a fix: In shouting "Shock! and Awe!" the U.S. has really made a huge case about how much nicer and neater our version of war is -- just how many fewer civilians would die. The conflict seemed front-loaded with optimistic claims of American technical superiority the likes of which haven't been seen since the days of Robert S. McNamara. This isn't 1991. Attack helos and A-10s aren't firing on the hind quarters of Iraqui tanks as they flee across an open desert. We are approaching large cities. If Iraqui forces continue to adopt some of the tactics of "embedding" in communities, somehow fail to heed our calls to cave in, and delay the speedy conclusion of this war in a way that leads to a steady increase in US/UK casualties, I wonder how long it will be before Tommy Franks asks his people to tone it down on the whole S&A/smart bomb thing and we just start shelling the living crap out of various suburbs of Baghdad?

Oh, a dark view, I know, but I wonder just how long we'll keep talking about the US's "kinder-gentler" way of war if and when the casualty page on CNN.com needs a "Next Page" button.

Saturday eve, to cheer ourselves up, a friend and I went to see "The Pianist". At dinner afterways, she offered this unprompted observation:

"CNN. It's indistinguishable from XBox."

(edit: just read the following from this NYT article: "A particularly severe humanitarian crisis is already developing in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, whose largely Shiite population is hostile to the Hussein regime and was expected to welcome the invading troops. Iraqi forces there are offering resistance, and British and American troops have been unwilling to fight their way in at the risk of heavy civilian casualties. Now parts of the city have been without power or water for three days. It is hard to see how allied forces can mitigate the situation without fighting their way into the city.")