Unleashing "Shock And Awe" At Home & Abroad

Share this

"[O]n the first day of Gulf War II: Die Harder, the Pentagon reportedly intends to launch 300 to 400 cruise missiles at targets in Iraq -- more than during the entire 40 days of the first Gulf War. '[Y]ou have this simultaneous effect, rather like the nuclear weapons at Hiroshima, not taking days or weeks but in minutes," says Harlan K. Ullman, who ... did co-author the 1996 book that defined the strategy that the U.S. military will be following. Euphemistically known as 'Shock and Awe,' the plan is designed to cow those Iraqis it doesn't blow up into immediate submission. A similar strategy has been employed here at home. ... Seeking to unite the republic with fear, the government has cranked up the scare tactics -- orange alerts, anti-aircraft missiles on the Mall, talk of Iraqi drone planes dropping biochemical weapons on American cities. Meanwhile, in an infuriatingly circular bit of reasoning, Vice President Dick Cheney has argued ... that we must use our troops precisely because we've committed them -- if not, we'll seem weak." It might shock some to learn that Mr. Ullman himself is rather skeptical of Bush's pending attack on Iraq. The St. Petersburg Times reports that "Having fought wars, studied them and written about them, he's not convinced that this one, at this time, makes sense."