From Wikipedia:
Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force to paralyze an adversary's perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight.
Can you believe the Iraq War began combat in March 2003? Doesn't that seem like forever ago? I remember watching CNN from Tokyo, Japan when "Shock and Awe" was in shocking display. I was on spring break of my junior year of college, shocked myself that we were actually bombing Baghdad.
Tonight President Obama declared the combat missions in Iraq over - without really declaring victory or "mission accomplished."
