American and British jets also bombed six Iraqi provinces on Jan. 29. Our opinionated guide to the underreported news and views about Bush's first 100 days. We've been bombing Iraq for nearly a decade, and little or nothing has changed there. Saddam Hussein remains the nation's undisputed leader, his political support undiminished by years of economic hardship and the endless bombing campaign. What remains mysterious is what the US and its European suck-ups think they're accomplishing.
Aerial bombing is nearly as old as aviation.
The Kaiser's blimps dropped bombs on London during World War I. During the '20s and '30s, military analysts developed bombing strategies that remain in use today. The idea is that bombs dropped on military bases and industrial infrastructure weaken an enemy's defenses, while those dropped on cities so demoralize the populace that they eventually turn their wrath on their own government. The US Air Force primarily focuses on the second of these objectives when shooting metallic capsules full of explosives into the airspace of foreign countries. Gen. Westmoreland tell it, it's only a matter of time before Iraqis get so bummed out by American bombs that they'll rise up in a spontaneous revolution, overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime and install a stable pro-American republic with a penchant for selling discounted drilling rights to international oil conglomerates. The trouble is that this has never, ever, worked.