Shock, Awe and the Deliberate Targetting of Civilians
Did you know that "Shock and Awe" is the Pentagon's code-name for a policy of deliberately killing the civilian population? The aim is to crush the will to resist. "Shock and Awe" is terrorism at its simplest.
Excerpts from: The "Shock and Awe" Experiment
"This document contains an in-depth analysis of the concept of “Shock and Awe” warfare as set forth by its architects and authors in “Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance,” a book published by the National Defense University (December 1996), an institution funded by the Pentagon. The concept came into the news recently when on January 24, 2003 CBS News reported and confirmed that the Shock and Awe concept was the basis for the U.S. war plan for Iraq.
"Conventional warfare exists based on particular established, “tried and true” doctrines, which are specific concepts that function as guidelines for planning and executing military operations. “Shock and Awe” was proposed in 1996 by its planners as a “revolutionary” new doctrine based on the idea that it might be possible to defeat an adversary’s will itself – essentially to so rapidly overwhelm all aspects of his being with destruction and fear so that he is demoralized, confused, and hopeless; so that he risks no further pain.
"Shock and Awe is notable in another way: the plan explicitly calls for targeting of civilian infrastructure such as “water supplies, food processing and sanitation.” The destruction of Iraq’s water supply during the 1990-91 Gulf War resulted in a health and sanitation crisis, which was well-documented by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency while the crisis progressed. These important declassified documents are reviewed and cited in the context of Shock and Awe’s heavy emphasis on the destruction of an adversary’s water supplies, sanitation facilities, and power grids. It is this priority of Shock and Awe, along with its fundamental prerequisite of “imposing an overwhelming level of Shock and Awe,” which will make it so controversial.
"With that in mind, it is of significant interest that the mainstream American corporate media have chosen to all but ignore the substance of Shock and Awe. Media coverage to date has mostly avoided close scrutiny of Shock and Awe’s original text.
"When there has been reporting on Shock and Awe it has sometimes centered on the fact that the plan’s key architect and author, Harlan K. Ullman, revealed in an interview on CBS News January 24, that 300-400 cruise missiles would strike targets in Baghdad on the first day of a Shock and Awe war. (During the first Gulf War, which lasted 39 days, a total of 325 cruise missiles were launched.) On the second day, another 300-400 missiles would strike Baghdad. And with the 1,500 or more conventional “smart” 1-ton bombs, and high numbers of “e-bombs,” some have said it would be 10 times the amount of ordnance dropped during the entire Gulf War – all in about 48 hours.
"Coupled with the fact that a fundamental tactic of Shock and Awe is to destroy non-military zones and facilities (see discussion below), suddenly the level of destruction takes on a new significance. Consider this excerpt from the text:
'Shock and Awe are actions that create fears, dangers, and destruction that are incomprehensible to the people at large, specific elements/sectors of the threat society, or the leadership. Nature in the form of tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, uncontrolled fires, famine, and disease can engender Shock and Awe. The ultimate military application of Shock and Awe was the use of two atomic weapons against Japan in WW II.'"
More and more it seems to me that 'shock and awe' was meant to provoke the Iraqi's to come out and fight.
Iraq after Saddam might have just settled and accepted the occupation, especially if the promise of democracy and a quick exit by US forces were delivered. But maybe the establishment didn't want that. They wanted to stay-there is thge oil factor too. Another reason to provoke the iraqi's might be that these neocons and zionists corporate whores wanted to use the stockpiles of arms and armour which had almost become obsolete after the cold-war.
This was a good chance to sell it. And if the Iraqi's fought back they'd be the promise of making more arms, newer arms-arms they've had on the planning table for years for lack of contracts.
So we have shock and awe where the US let loose and used ordinance-much more than required. which cost the average US citizen a pretty penny. But the corporates probably congratulated each other for selling goods that they might have been forced to scrap if there wasn't this war.
We've all heard about the new arms deals the US is making with gulf countries. More tactics to move out their old stuff and start manufacturing new stuff. They know that anytime these petty minions get out of line or someone they don't like takes their place they'll just send in the USAF and wipe out wht they've sold them.
Take the example of Saddam. These Corporates earnt billions from him when they sold him arms in the eighties-plus they got him to fight a war with Iran.
But as soon as the Iran-Iraq war ended and the Corporates realised he wasn't useful to them anymore they just went ahead and flattened his airforce-within one night-and destroyed other arnaments which they'd sold to him.
Shock&Awe,Iraq retaliates with all that stuff Rummy sold them,Then they get nuked flat.
But the Iraqi refused to bite and the nuking had to be a tad more lo-key...if not just as deadly. Car bombings did the real damage in leiu of America or israel having a nice green light. The Elder bush allways said WMD never nukes.
America was hoping Iraq would do an American operation with all that WMD rummy sold em.
First you take D.C. Then you take New York (:
Well, the above document sheds new light on the "Hearts and Minds" operation: the idea seems to be to try and frazzle the invaded populations' minds and hearts with total FEAR AND TERROR.
The one solid defence is Faith and Prayer.