War from the Skies

Air raid campaigns have become the main modern warfare military strategy. The high technology-low casualty formula of "shock and awe" aerial attacks allow soldiers to inflict harm without being in harm's way. But, are these Blitzkriegs more of a theater spectacle than an effective warfare method?

Professor Robert Pape does not believe that 'shock & awe' aerial campaigns alone lead to victory, a view which he expressed in an op-ed piece in today's New York Times.

Professor John Mearsheimer thinks that aerial campaigns should be engaged only as a last resort war tactic.

Yanar Mohammed, a Canadian-Iraqi who lived through the U.S. bombing of Baghdad in 1991, never believed the U.S. would bomb areas where civilians lived. When the U.S. did bomb Baghdad in 1991, her attitude towards the U.S. changed.

Click the "Listen" link above to hear more about the effectiveness of aerial campaigns, whether they really do 'shock & awe,' and how they are affecting the image of U.S. around the world.

Guests:

Robert Pape, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago specializing in international security affairs and author of "Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War"

John Mearsheimer, Professor at the University of Chicago specializing in international security affairs and author of "The Tragedy of Great Power Politics."

Yanar Mohammed, a Canadian-Iraqi who lived through the U.S. bombing of Baghdad in 1991