Oh really. Maybe you can take another look at what we did in a little thing called WWII and ask about what happened to German and Japanese cities. We as a country may not be there yet, but if we continue to lose thousands of citizens at a clip, we as a people will demand that extreme measures be taken. I just happen to believe that we could save many innocent lives if we act right now regardless of how outrageous it may seem. The choice seems fairly clear in my own mind at least. If someone is going to die, I say let it be the people of Baghdad and not the people of New York. If it takes leveling the capital of a terrorist state to stop the madness, then let's get to it.
Richard W.
The intention was never to kill civilians. Collateral damage occurred, of course. But the plan was NOT terror, but destruction of strategic materiél.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki are notable exceptions, of course, but even then the idea was to sacrifice some lives to save many, many more. Not unlike the "shoot-down" order that has now been given for hijacked aircraft.