[PEN-L:7125] (Fwd) The origin of the term "area bombing"

[ts99u-1.cc.umanitoba.ca [130.179.154.224]]

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent:              Fri, 21 May 1999 12:20:38 -0700
To:                     [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From:                   Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:                The origin of the term "area bombing"

Reflections from a friend on the origin of the term "area bombing": 

For most of WWII the night bombing of German cities and other such targets
was the explicit policy of RAF Bomber Command, defended most forcefully by
its head, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, who once said that
he considered no bomb dropped over Germany to be off its target. Its
greatest American proponent was General Curtis Le May, whose 20th Air Force
conducted the aerial bombardment of Japan in 1944-45. In one night on March
9-10 (?), 1945 the B-29s, using incendiaries, burnt out 16 square miles of
Tokyo, killing more people than were killed in the later atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

With such illustrious precedents, why should it surprise anyone that NATO
is moving on to "area bombing", especially if they are running short of
cruise missiles and smart bombs?