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From the JDAMs post above:

It was the height of the Desert Storm air war. The Air Force ruled the skies and was giving Iraq the mother of all poundings. “That night we dropped more than 288,000 pounds of munitions on the target,” he said. After the “bombs away” over the plant, they hightailed it back to base. The B-52s dropped conventional bombs on that carpet-bombing raid. Just like B-17 Flying Fortresses did over Germany 50 years before. Scratch one plant. Seven years later, the plant was back online. During Operation Desert Fox, it was also back on the target list. But this time in took just six Buffs — launching cruise missiles — to smash it. The bombers didn’t have to get close. “Today we could do the same job with one B-52 carrying a dozen JDAMs,” said Harysch, 23rd Bomb Squadron weapons and tactics chief at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. “And we don’t have to fly as close to the target.”

ECONOMY OF FORCE

Wouldn't you rather send one aircraft, 6 crewman, and 12 precision weapons instead of 100 B-17s, 1000 crewmen and 288,000 lbs of dumb bombs?

Yes, that's the rational argument.

However, I have an infantryman's irrational love for Buffs. Vietnam was an infantry war until Buffs provided close air support. Then it became very one-sided. Ask Marines who were at Khe Sanh during the siege in '68 if they thought Arc Light strikes were a waste of the taxpayers' money.

Also, I like big guns. Very big guns. In the Gulf War, the Marines found themselves in a tank battle at Kuwait International Airport. The Marquis of Queensbury would have ruled naval gunfire support off limits as unfair. However, the chief gunnery officer of the Missouri didn't see it that way. He opened up on the Iraqis with nine beautiful 16" rifles. While it may not be good sportsmanship, having the full armanent of an Iowa-class battleship and its escorts on call can give a tank commander a very nice edge.

Accuracy has its place. But in my opinion, so does breaking a little crockery from time to time.

Yes, it's possible to kill a tank crew with a Hellfire missile. But when a 16" shell blows the 30-ton turret of a T-72 tank 100 meters in the air, you're sending the tanker's family a message: no open casket today, courtesy of America.