Interesting piece in The Atlantic Online:

The Atlantic | April 2002 | The Air-Power Revolution | Kelly

The ideal war is one in which the other side quits after a minimum of actual fighting. Accomplishing this comes down to scaring or starving--demoralizing the enemy, through displays of might or destruction, to the point where fighting seems useless, or destroying the enemy's supplies to the point where further fighting is effectively impossible. "Frightening your enemy is the fundamental and presumably the oldest weapon of war," Peter Calvocoressi, Guy Wint, and John Pritchard wrote in Total War....

Part 1 of 2.