US TURNS TO AIR STRIKES IN IRAQ TO SAVE GI LIVES, BUT CIVILIAN CASUALTIES MOUNT

The US military command in Iraq has switched tactics and are now using more and more air strikes in a calculated move to save the lives of ground troops as we grow closer to the election.

In Iraq, a Surge in U.S. AirstrikesMilitary Says Attacks Save Troops' Lives, but Civilian Casualties Elicit Criticism

By Ernesto Londoño and Amit R. PaleyWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, May 23, 2008; A10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/22/AR2008052203869_pf.html

CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- From an Apache helicopter, Capt. Ben Katzenberger's battlefield resembles a vast mosaic of tiny brown boxes.
"The city looks like a bucket of Legos dumped out on the ground," the 26-year-old pilot said. "It's brown Legos, no color. It's really dense and hard to pick things out because everything looks the same."

He uses a powerful lens to zoom in on tiny silhouettes, trying to identify people with "hostile intent" among hundreds of ordinary citizens in Baghdad.

In recent weeks, Katzenberger and other pilots have dramatically increased their use of helicopter-fired missiles against enemy fighters, often in densely populated areas. Since late March, the military has fired more than 200 Hellfire missiles in the capital, compared with just six missiles fired in the previous three months.

The military says the tactic has saved the lives of ground troops and prevented attacks, but the strikes have also killed and wounded civilians, provoking criticism from Iraqis.