Explorer

Inside Shock and Awe (2005x4)

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Target: Saddam Hussein's Baghdad. Mission: unleash a bombardment so massive that it destroys the enemy's will, yet kills as few people as possible. Using spectacular exclusive imagery and CGI, National Geographic Television & Film investigates the planning and execution of Shock and Awe, putting it into historical perspective and looking to the future of warfare. Inside Shock and Awe will deconstruct the bombing campaign that launched Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the most intense bombardment in history, 800 missiles were launched in two days - more than twice as many as were dropped during the six weeks of Gulf War I. Yet the bombing was carried out with surgical precision, minimizing "collateral damage". Amazingly, there has been no detailed inside look at what happened during those 48 hours in March 2003. We'll get an inside view of the technology that allows overwhelming firepower to be accurately targeted, and investigate how exotic missiles, like the thermobaric "bunker busters," work. At the same time, we'll put the Shock and Awe campaign into the context of history's most dramatic bombardments - from the catapults and trebuchets of the Romans, to the firebombing of Dresden. And we'll provide a unique, exclusive look at what was going on in Baghdad during a bombardment that was designed to destroy peoples' wills, while saving their lives. This controversial campaign was part of a new approach to war, based on the latest technology and a modern-day concern for human life. NGT&F was in the middle of this awesome watershed in the history of warfare, and now has the insight and access to provide a comprehensive investigation into the planning, execution and outcome of this amazing military feat.