[ichabod1]

That doesn't answer my question. I didn't say we need to get rid of troops. I suggested we should flatten buildings instead of sending human beings into them to be ambushed.

[Thombo2]

"I suggested we should flatten buildings..."I get your point and agree.A well aimed 500lb'er would do the trick.Unfortunately PC'ness dictates no unnecessary civilian casualties.

[Patriot Hooligan]

Part of our problem over there is that they have a perception that we don't have the guts to finish this. A bomb taking them out is not what they respect.

What do you think they really consider shock and awe... A missile that can get them through a window or men who can be more brutal in combat than they are?

Also, I agree aviation leaves no prisoners, but you better have boots on the ground to make sure the rubble doesn't get re-populated.

That being said, you need to know that we wouldn't be here years later if we were the ones setting the rules of engagement.

"It always made me mad to have to beg for opportunities to win battles." General George S. Patton

I do wish we would use a Neutron bomb or two.

[piasa]

It's probably because it's not as difficult to clear snipers out of standing structures where they look out of place as it is to find them amid the many more potential hiding places of chaotic rubble where everything looks out of place. [Not that I would know.]

I believe we did something along the lines of what you'd like to do in WW2 Italy- blew some fortress or castle to bits. It was a mistake for which we paid dearly... essentially we gave that bad guys the best hiding places and ambush points they could ask for.