In our name

Christian Century, March 8, 2003

The Bush administration would like us to think that a war against Iraq will be short and bloodless. Short, maybe; bloodless, hardly. According to a war plan leaked to CBS News, 800 cruise missiles will be used the first two days of the attack, twice the amount used in the 40-day Gulf War. The plan, called "Shock and Awe," is designed to destroy the enemy's will to fight.

One Pentagon official claims that "there will not be a safe place in Baghdad." But who can predict whether Hussein's forces will buckle psychologically or stiffen their resolve to fight on? Generals know that war never goes as planned anyway, which may explain Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent response when reminded that President Bush goes to bed by 10 and claims to sleep like a baby. Powell's retort: "I sleep like a baby, too--every two hours I wake up screaming" (New Yorker, February 10).