Ed Morrisssey, Hot Air, writes:
When discussing war crimes during World War II, two events usually get thrown out as indictments of the Allies: dropping atomic weapons on the Japanese and the raid of Dresden, in which 25,000 people died mostly of the raging fire that swept the German city. Critics accuse the Allies of deliberately attacking a civilian
Quibble whether that should be described as two events, or three. Yet I agree that the two atomic raids on Japan and the fire bombing of Dresden do top the list of the retrospective moralists who object to the way we fought and won World War Two.
Yet what was most destructive air raid of the war, and indeed of all time? Not Hiroshima, Nagasaki or Dresden. Rather is was the fire bombing of Toyko on the night of of March 9-10, 1945:
The lead attackers arrived over the city just after dark and were followed by a procession of death that lasted until dawn. The fires started by the initial raiders could be seen from 150 miles away. The results were devastating: almost 17 square miles of the city were reduced to ashes. Estimates of the number killed range between 80,000 and 200,000, a higher death toll than that produced by the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima or Nagasaki six months later.
The LeMay Treatment resulted in the most devasting air raid of all time, be it measured in square miles, or lost of human life. Yet if you listen to the historical revisionist, getting burned to death is somehow less morally offensive than dying from radition exposure. Go figure. Or maybe it just racism. That is it is alright to burn the slant eyed, yellow skinned Japs to death, but not Europeans? Who knows.
Tags: air raid, atomic bomb on hiroshima, atomic weapons, attackers, death toll, dropping of the atomic bomb, fire bombing of dresden, german city, hiroshima nagasaki, Hot Air, indictments, japs, morrisssey, procession, raging fire, toyko, war crimes, world war ii, world war two
