01-21-2005, 03:45 PM
Well, in all fairness, the anti-Iraq-war people often tend to miss out on some very important details in their complaints, especially referring to civilian casualties. First of all, the fact is that there will always be "innocent bystanders" hurt/killied when fighting breaks out. But how is that different from what Saddam was doing to his own people when he was in power? The "Wacky Iraqi", as some called him, did more damage to his own nation in terms of human lives lost or ruined than Gee-Dubya and co. ever did.
Beyond that, compare the accuracy of these bombs with WW2, and other conflicts. Who hit the mark more? Versus Hitler's "Fortress Europe", the Allies often used saturation bombing tactics, leveling an entire area to get at one or two targets. In their invasion of Iraq, the US did everything it could to only hit military targets. But when you're fighting in and around a city, people will get caught in the middle of it - especially since IIRC, Saddam did everything short of forcing his people not to evacuate.
The only reason civilian casualties get more hype now is because the media has much greater access to the field - and no journalism agency I've ever had experience with is immune to the sensationalism bug. One person dying gets more attention in today's press than hundreds did in earlier wars, and it's not just because of the sheer size of the campaign.
Beyond that, compare the accuracy of these bombs with WW2, and other conflicts. Who hit the mark more? Versus Hitler's "Fortress Europe", the Allies often used saturation bombing tactics, leveling an entire area to get at one or two targets. In their invasion of Iraq, the US did everything it could to only hit military targets. But when you're fighting in and around a city, people will get caught in the middle of it - especially since IIRC, Saddam did everything short of forcing his people not to evacuate.
The only reason civilian casualties get more hype now is because the media has much greater access to the field - and no journalism agency I've ever had experience with is immune to the sensationalism bug. One person dying gets more attention in today's press than hundreds did in earlier wars, and it's not just because of the sheer size of the campaign.