A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, launches heat decoys during a close-air-support mission over Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2008. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron AllmonFrom The Danger Room:
Residents of a village in western Afghanistan are still furious at American forces, a week after a series of airstrikes there killed dozens of innocents.
“Why do they target the Taliban inside the village?” one villager asked the New York Times’ Carlotta Gall. “Why don’t they bomb them when they are outside the village? …Why don’t they bomb their targets, but instead they come and bomb our houses?”
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My Comment: Air Wars are definitely "smarter" when compared to air wars of the past. But can air attacks/strikes be more precise and accurate .... I believe the answer is yes, and so does the air force. Billions are now being spent on different size ordinances (i.e. instead of a 500 lb bomb, a 100 lb weapon is used to minimize blast damage), better intelligence, more command and controls, and better aircraft. The use of UAVs in obtaining intelligence and then using UAVs for air strikes is another leap in conducting an air war.
Afghanistan and Iraq has been a laboratory for this type of warfare .... and I can only expect more improvements to come.