We keep hearing about the Shock and Awe military attack that will bring the United States victory in Iraq.

Though I can’t help but think how much shock and awe there will actually be when the United States enforces it?

I watched as Baghdad went up in smoke.

I listened to expert upon expert contemplate whether Saddam Hussein’s (supposedly) live-telecast was taped with an imposter.

I discovered what type of bombs would be dropped and the aircraft that will get it there.

Worse yet, I see and hear CNN anchors Nic Robertson and Wolf Blitzer in my sleep.

But the CNNs, Fox News Channels and Headline News of the world will jam news coverage down my throat like a Shaquille O’Neal slam dunk.

The style of coverage between the sports world and war front were shockingly alike.

A CNN newscaster draw circles on a telestrator screen like Bill Walton, and there were little animated airplanes and tanks a la virtual playbook.

The only thing left was for John Madden and Al Michaels to show up on my television screen.

Talk about annoying.

If I had things my way, the war update would come once or twice a day, not because I don’t care but because the less I know, the better.

Some things are better left unsaid, unseen and unheard.

I recall the intense coverage of Sept. 11, and all the signs from networks point toward the same coverage bombardment occurring again.

Now don’t get confused. As a member of the media, I appreciate and commend the journalists risking their lives for the sake of news.

I just wish they didn’t do such a great job.

The simple remedy to my phobia would be to simply not watch CNN or Fox News Channel using the “well if it’s going to burn you, just don’t touch it” theory.

Kelly Runyon, news director for WEIU, said the 24-hour coverage is tailored for the troops’ families.

“The No. 1 audience is friends and family,” Runyon said. “There is half a million troops over there, and they want to know how their loved ones are doing –if I had a son or a daughter over there, I would want to watch to know they are safe.”

But what if they weren’t?

I wouldn’t want to discover from television a loved one had died.

Runyon said she thought television coverage had been well done, and that stations like CNN were only fulfilling an obligation to their viewers.

“As a network as a news outlet, they are entitled to inform the public,” she said.

The statement is true, but how much is too much?

Maybe television mellows President George W. Bush’s decisions because every action is so carefully watched and critiqued.

I’m sure I sound like a typical college student — if it doesn’t affect me, I could care less — but I don’t need to know exactly what our military does on a minute-by-minute basis.

I stayed well-informed on the consequences leading up to war and have a good knowledge why we went to war.

Now that Bush made his decision, there is no turning back.

Tell me what happened before and after, but I’m not sure I want such meticulous details of what happens in-between.

The old adage goes, “In war, there are no rules.”

As a result, the ends unfortunately justify the means.

The men and women who fall while fighting for their country should be commended and awarded — not made into television stars.