From 2004 to 2007, the overall tonnage of munitions dropped from planes rose from 163 tons to 1,956 tons, a 1,100% increase, Air Force data show.
However, the total tonnage dropped in 2008 fell to 1,314 tons, a 33% decrease.
In part this is a reaction to successful Taliban media campaign about so-called indiscriminate bombing that fabricates and exaggerates casualties our bombs cause (even when it is the enemy's fault for using human shields). The article goes on:
Commanders worry that airstrikes can wound or kill innocent bystanders, setting back efforts to win support from locals. Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has said the Taliban seeks to create backlash against coalition efforts there by using civilians as "shields." In September, the Air Force tightened its rules for dropping bombs in an effort to limit civilian casualties.
It is unfair that we have to holster a useful weapon, but when it becomes counter-productive--even if only because of the press reports as news of enemy lies--we must react by restricting our air power use in the short run until we can nullify that enemy propaganda.
But in part, the reduction in bombs dropped is from the enemy reacting to our air power:
In January, USA TODAY reported that Afghan insurgents had learned to attack U.S. troops and scatter before they could be hit by airstrikes, a tactic that has limited the amount of bombs dropped.
That is quite a testament to our air power. The advantage this provides us can't be exaggerated. Even small American units out in the field gain quite a measure of protection from being overrun and wiped out by a much larger enemy force since the enemy believes they have only a short time to attack before being targetted by our air power--if they even risk massing in the first place.
And this advantage is gained by a miniscule use of bombs, as opposed to the anti-war opinion so common that we're just air raiding villages left and right:
Since 2001, the Air Force has dropped 14,049 tons of bombs in Afghanistan and 18,858 tons in Iraq. That compares with 6.7 million tons dropped during the Vietnam War.
Keep these facts in mind when you read about our air power.
