Who was shocked and Awed?

David Weinberger suggests the real target of the "Shock and Awe" campaign in today's blog:

"Shock and Awe worked. It turned out not to work exactly as advertised in Iraq: the Iraq military didn't fold once they saw our might on display. But that's not what I think the aim of Shock and Awe was.

Take Shock and Awe as applying not to the three nights of massive bombing but to the entire Iraqi campaign. Its target wasn't the Iraqi enemy but the rest of the world. And it worked. Our political system is in shock and awe: The Democrats have scattered like ants in shock and awe of the Bush Administration's willingness to lie, threaten and stuff socks down its crotch to get a war that it wanted for reasons it couldn't explain. The world is shocked and awed to learn that the US can and will slam anyone into the sand we want to, no questions asked, no recourse allowed.

Shock and awe worked."

There's a lot of truth in this - even if the result wasn't intended as such.
I heard another way of putting it today (on the radio today). "The terrorists, by attacking the USA were saying 'fuck you, America' - and the Americans responded with 'fuck you back' - and bombed Afghanistan and Iraq." (something like that anyway). This message is for the whole world to hear.