1. Nailing a specific individual on the ground from the air (note, I didn't say a specific individual in the air from the air):
and 2. "end result" vs. "correctness" (whether in timing or otherwise):[Three carrier-based naval air officers contemplate an unauthorized bombing raid on Hanoi.]
Stephen Coonts, Flight of the Intruder, 1986"Hell, maybe if you don't get the leaders, you might get Jane Fonda or Ramsey Clark."
....
"If I had that kind of luck, I'd have won the Irish Sweepstakes by now and be married to the Playmate of the Year."
HT (for both quotes) to Steve Young - from his interview of COL (PAVN) Bui Tin, How North Vietnam Won The War."War is a conflict which does not determine who is right but who is left."
William G. Anderson, Bat-21, 1980
And, "No, Virginia", just because we (US) have fired off 100+ cruise missiles, does not mean that I'm suddenly "on board" this African adventure. Nor will I be "on board" this African adventure when our military personnel become personally engaged (whether sea, air or land) within Libya's borders. Yeh, I heard Pres. Obama re: no ground forces - I also heard Pres. Johnson in 1964.
By "on board", I mean that I am not buying into the Politik (policy) that drives this armed conflict. That "it" is "an armed conflict" is already established by Res 1973 and the consequent military actions already taken.
As to our military personnel, they will do what they have done for most all of our history - they will do their best; probably prevail tactically; and perhaps even strategically. In that aspect (and only in that aspect), I am "on board" - with those personnel, whom I distinguish from the political leaders who establish Politik.
Regards
Mike
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