March 09, 2005
The More Things Change
Tokyo, 1945
The attack, coming a month after a similar raid on Dresden, Germany, brought the mass incineration of civilians to a new level in a conflict already characterized by unprecedented bloodshed.
The official death toll was some 83,000, but historians generally agree that victims unaccounted for bring the figure to around 100,000 -- overwhelmingly civilians. It is widely considered to be the most devastating air raid in history.
Fallujah, 2005
Living conditions in the city remain poor, with electricity sporadic, municipal water available only a few hours a day, and the city's general hospital located outside areas open to residents, meaning they have to pass through checkpoints to reach it, the UN said.
Residents returning in December said the city was unfit even for animals. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the offensive.
In Tokyo, on a single night, the U.S. military killed -- guessing, here -- ten times as many civilians as have been killed by all combined acts of "retail" terrorism (i.e., of the al-Qaeda / PLO / IRA / ETA variety) in World history.
One night. According to Robert McNamara in The Fog Of War, there were many more cities than just Tokyo that were firebombed.
But it's still a mere drop in the bucket compared with the "man-made mega-deaths of the 20th Century" -- which accrued primarily "For Reasons of State".
So if we're to conduct a "War" on an "ism", shouldn't terrorism be one of the lower priorities? How about let's conduct a "War" on Statism/Nationalism, and/or Capitalism/Imperialism/Colonialism.
Once we've accomplished that, we could turn our attention to the small-time players.
Posted by Eddie Tews at March 9, 2005 09:22 PM
Comments
Been there recently? Of course not..... -- Posted by: Kyle on March 13, 2005 11:41 AM