[Ronn_Bman]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: I remember reading an unsubstantiated report that upwards of 30,000 Taliban were killed because of bombs in the U.S. air campaign in Afganistan. The Taliban were the enemy, we were aiming at them. Regardless, I think you are SERIOUSLY downplaying the devastation of bombs. As I recall one stray bomb during the gulf war killed hundreds of Iraqi as they hid in a shelter. I don't think anyone here is saying bombs aren't devastating. They are after all bombs. Also clusterbombs have a long lasting residual effects on population, although the EU and UN have called for a moritorum on these weapons, the U.S. still uses them. The US and EU and UN don't always agree. The US doesn't use cluster bombs against population centers, but they are an essential weapon against soft targets which includes soldiers, vehicles, airfields, lightly armored vehicles, etc. Bombs don't just kill a few people, especially when hundreds of bombs are falling day in and day out. Today's bombs accidentally kill far fewer innocents than would have ever been thought possible. There was a time when entire civilian populations centers were killed purposely by both Allies and Axis. To claim that today's war weapons aren't perfect is to be correct but to ignore the fact that more effort goes into trying to save innocents during war now than at any other time in history is to completely ignore the truth. We don't live in a perfect world, and while we all wish we did, it doesn't make sense to pretend we do.

[ 03-05-2003, 06:28 PM: Message edited by: Ronn_Bman ]