Aerial Counterinsurgency

Jim Michaels reports for USA Today on the increased use of airpower in Afghanistan and Iraq. Chris Albritton wants it noted that this is not just a strategic disaster, a violation of what we know about counterinsurgency, but also:

Plus, and just as important, they kill civilians, the moral wrongness of which seems to be lost in this story. Yes, it’s good to decrease reasons for locals to hate America, but not killing innocent people is a good unto itself, no? Am I the only one getting tired of seeing civilian casualties as something to be avoided for tactical reasons and not that it’s supposed to be wrong to kill innocent people?

Indeed.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2007/10/aerial-counterinsurgency/43370/