As part of its plans for attacking
Iraq,
America is planning a new type of
military bombing known as "
Shock and Awe". This technique makes use of a huge amount of
firepower to destroy large amounts of military infrastruture in a small space of time, destroying the enemy not only
physically, but also the
psychological will to fight.
The current plans for the attack on Iraq involve the use of around 800 cruise missiles which are to be fired on Baghdad over a two day timespan. This is over twice the number of missiles used in the entire Gulf War which lasted for 40 days. The Pentagon apparently estimates that the damage done could be "approximate to a nuclear explosion".
In World War II, America used the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to ensure Japan's surrender and a fast end to the war. It seems they hope for the same with this tactic, but without the public relations fiasco that using a real nuclear bomb would create.
Sources:
- http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/01/1566466.php
- http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15027