We will never be able to prevent innocent people getting killed in an air strike. But with today's precision that number is at an all time low. As for innocent people getting killed in such things as tribal areas. Well, how much does innocent count for? I mean some of these tribes do love a good fight. So much so that they can certainly and inadvertently end up with a bomb on their roofs. Nobody says we have to be fair in all our fights. If Lt. Michael Murphy, Petty Officer Danny Dietz and Michael Axelson were here today they might have a thing or two to state about the opportunity cost of fighting fair in these types regions. Having too much air power in a small war may be a jagged little pill to swallow and if that means the opposing force doing what comes natural and manipulate mistakes that may result than we will just have to take the pain. There is no rule that states that we must win on all fronts. Air power ends up saving lives in the long term. And not just life on our side of the barrel. In hindsight using "The Bomb" on Japan may be viewed by many as a huge mistake and a gross misuse of air power. But at the time it was a necessary evil and who knows it may come to that again. And I would bet some of us in America and a whole lot of people in Japan would have never been born if we hadn't dropped them. I realize that throwing in the A-Bomb as a compare and contrast for a small wars topic may be too much but I think everyone can at least catch my drift. The Japanese culture at that time was just way too aggressive. Sort of like certain factions of Islamic culture today. The Japanese were cutting off heads then and today it is these fanatics. If people can't figure out that it is because of them that our bombs are falling in their backyard than more power to them. There is nothing we can do about that other than what we are currently doing. Which is make an effort to minimize injuring and killing innocent people with air power. And I believe we do this at the loss of life on our own side. That is our true opportunity cost and the one I value the most. I dread hearing that innocent women and children were killed alongside the enemy. I dread even worse finding out that we suffered a loss because we gave something or someone the benefit of the doubt to prevent the loss of innocent life for this is what we do best.