So, a few days ago French aircraft joined the air war in Syria, bombing some targets in Raqqa. The obvious question, if you think about it, is: “Why did they bomb the targets they did?” Because:
- If it’s a meaningful target, shouldn’t the target *already* have been bombed?
- Or did the French have access to information the US didn’t have?
As it turns out, the reason seems to be that the targets were previously u-bombed was because the US knew of them, but US rules of war did not allow them to be targeted due to concerns about collateral damage.
The US, it seems, only goes after targets with zero risk of civilian casualties. Islamic State knows this, and locates their facilities next to schools and hospitals and such. Because as warfare and its TV coverage over the last 40 years or so have shown, when the US takes out civilians, the images of pain and despair are broadcast far and wide in an effective program to demoralize and turn the western populace against the war. But at the same time, our opponents commit *intentional* atrocities… and they themselves broadcast those images as a way to demoralize the west and pump themselves up. Despite what some yammering nincompoops say, not all cultures are equally worthy. As much as many people want to believe that people are all pretty much the same, people *aren’t( the same. Differing civilizations hold wildly different views about the value and purpose of human life, and it can lead to completely opposite reactions.
Now that ISIS has dragged Russia – and perhaps soon, China – into this thing, they’re going to find that the American squeamishness about harming civilians is not widely shared. In a rational world, ISIS would now be in a panic. But in *this* world, they are probably giddy, sine they seem to think that bringing an apocalyptic war to the region will speed up the End of Days. They of course think that this will result in their being seen favorably by their chosen deity… but lets face it, the denizens of Muspellsheimr really don’t give a damn about people one way or the other, so ISIS, it’s lands, stuff and people, will burn along with everyone else.
