I am quite well aware of the Dresden bombing and the controversy surrounding it, thank you.
But you said:
A better example might be how the Allies dropped leaflets over Germany saying that Dresden would be the new capital of Germany after the war and wouldn't be bombed. Once the city was packed with civilians [and no military targets]...we bombed the shit out of it.
I read the links you posted. I failed to see ANYTHING supporting that statement.
I did find this, though:
It was the Prime Minister himself who in effect had signed the death warrant for Dresden, which had been executed by Harris [chief of RAF Bomber Command]. And it was Churchill, too, who in the beginning had enthusiastically backed the bomber marshals in carrying out the indiscriminate area bombing policy in which the all believed. They were all in it together. Portal himself [head of the RAF, Harris of course, Trenchard [British air theorist] too, and the Prime Minister most of all. And many lesser people.
Sounds like out British friends had a great deal more to do with this than the US, too. Maybe you should ask your socialist buds over there how many of them are war criminals.
In case you are unaware of it, the US (probably somewhat mildly) opposed the British policy of area bombing. The British bombed at night because they didn't need to identify precise targets and darkness gave some protection against German fighters. The US in general bombed during the day, accepting the increased risk from fighters (and paying dearly in American aviators lives) and tried to hit specific military targets and just them. It was called precision bombing. It also must be said the the precision part worked much better in theory than in practice. The technology of the time did not permit this.
I would have guessed the Catholic Church invented the term, but I'm biased! <s> But I think the term came about in the early 18th century.
You win:
Main Entry: pro·pa·gan·da
Pronunciation: "prä-p&-'gan-d&, "prO-
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Congregatio de propaganda fide
Congregation for propagating the faith, organization established by
Pope Gregory XV died 1623
Date: 1718
m-w.com |
