Cowardly bullying states like the US,UK and Israel will always seek out vulnerable adversaries and subject them to aerial bombardment in preference to fighting them on the ground.

This is the only way they can maintain the belief among their allies and clients as well as among their own troops that they have the stomach for what will be the long fight ahead.

The evidence to date suggests that the staying power of all these would-be belligerents is negligible and that even when they pick vulnerable states with which to fight they will ultimately cut and run just as soon as the going gets tough.

Israeli jets in particular are marked with a totemic yellow star and that gives an indication of the direction in which they would be headed were they to discover that the anti-aircraft weaponry below was a match for them.

Tel Aviv pronto!

As the Vietnam war drew to a close US pilots increasingly began to abort their missions over Hanoi and other targets for fear of succumbing to the strike rate of the Chinese-manned air defences.

The British have shown a willingness to depart the battlefield as soon as they realise they face any kind of sustained resistance.

The mourning and sadness that has accompanied the deaths of British soldiers in Afghanistan which have only just topped 100 beside an outrageous toll inflicted by British and US airpower on civilians in Afghanistan gives the lie to any claims that they intend to stay the course.

Like the US they will cut and run as soon as the going gets tough.

Up against braver and more resourceful enemies than themselves they deserve everything they get.