Prior to Bush, we had been engaged in low intensity warfare to keep the no fly zones in Iraq, and nobody was too excited about it.

We had cruise missiles for a long time, and it was the use of those for specific targets which Bush believed was not dramatic enough.

actually are.

It would be tough to argue against "but they kept our troops out of danger!"

People wouldn't be as angry and looking to vent as they are today. So no.

Get back to me when I can send in drones to arrest every left-handed red head in a ten city block square area. Oh, and I happen to not want to just smash the whole thing or kill the objective, which is my only real choice with drones, which won't exactly do wonders for keeping collateral damage low.

Drones have advantages and disadvantages just like any other tool in the national security box. They can't tell for example, that the house you've been watching that is now swarming with activity is a wedding in progress and not a terrorist meeting.

And then using that intelligence to make "targeted" strikes?

I can't think of anything LESS effective. You can't achieve ANY kind of progress unless you've got boots AND brains on the ground. Interacting and gaining trust of locals is essential.

Using "death from the sky" techniques on a terrified population would increase Al Qaeda and Taliban membership EXPONENTIALLY.

What if SecDef did not issue the stand down order at Tora Bora and US Special Forces instead finished the job instead of watching the ISI fly out OBL and his henchmen?

Nah, there would not have been a war in Iraq and the short intervention in Afghanistan would have come to an end.

Wait, you mean KBR, Chenney's last employer, would not have made a killing?

Targeted attacks would not destroy the iraqi military, nor would it have changed much in Afghanistan. We could not have brought down national governments with drones. Our policy of targeted killings is like Israel's, and it has not affected much there except to exacerbate the problem.

Are we outraged by Israel's targeted killings? Yes. Using them in a decade long series of assassinations that killed a lot of number 3's, some number 2's, and an occasional number 1's would not enamor drone strikes.