I saw a MiG fighter shelling an area and I saw the smoke columns.
The rebels have shown no fear of striking at the Saudi kingdom, shelling an air base and aiming rockets at border towns.
Ordinarily, before bombing or shelling, an American pilot or artillery-man must obtain permission from the province chief, or district chief, who, as a Vietnamese, is presumed to be more familiar with the surroundings than the Americans and able to restrain them from destroying populated areas.
But the war seems more distant, the bombing and shelling an occasional interruption rather than a constant thump, gripping the stomach in a permanent spasm of fear.
But like shelling an entire city to wipe out a few rebels, the strategy leaves civilian casualties in its wake: Standard cancer treatments destroy healthy cells alongside diseased ones, taking a toll on a patient's body and strength.
Four months later, when neither the U.S. nor South Korea took the bait to restart talks, Pyongyang ratcheted up the pressure by revealing a new uranium enrichment plant and shelling an inhabited South Korean island, its previous peace pledge notwithstanding.
