Cheat-Seeking Missles

Saturday, January 14, 2006

If al-Zaawahri Dodged, Hit Again

If reports are true that faulty intelligence led our Predator-fired missiles to hit houses that al Qaeda #2 man Ayman al-Zawahri was not hiding in, it would be a tragic shame, but we can't be shamed into not continuing the pursuit.

In earlier wars, we leveled cities to stop an enemy's war machine. Wars have changed, and today we target specific houses to achieve our objectives. If yesterday's raid was a mistake, it resulted in 17 people dying who should be alive today. In World War II, if a mistake was made, like the firebombing of Dresden, it resulted in much worse:

Horrific, yes, but justified in the larger battle to rid the world of a greater evil. If those killed in yesterday's attack turn out to really have nothing to do with al Qaeda (and we'll see about that), we are still fighting an unbelievably precise and clean war.

The left, of course, doesn't see it that way. These comments from AmericaBlog show they're either giddy with another "Bush failure," ranting with paranoia, or thinking about as strategically as a rutabaga:
If we take out #2, someone else has to move into the slot, Mademoiselle...

But the Bushies did manage to kill a bunch of women and children with missiles labeled "USA". They hate our freedom.

I openly fault Bush for failing to kill/capture Zawahiri. ... I've seen the pattern. I know these guys are reading blogs. No doubt about it.

Oh come on now. Did ANY of you believe that report last night for even one second? It had BOGUS written all over it. My only question is what new disaster were they trying to distract our attention away from?
That led to fevered anticipation of an upcoming Gore speech, and just as fevered speculation that the Bush administration somehow thought it strategically sound to embarass themselves internationally as a "cover" for an upcoming strike on Iran. That has soundness written all over it. Well, at least it's more sound than this guy:
Well yeah Iran but first Chicago goes up. Things have begun to clarify a little on timing and I'm going out on a limb here. I'm calling for Chicago Feb 1st and Iran Feb 2.
I hope the FBI is monitoring that guy!