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| The Truth About The Troops |
| 2007-11-26 |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #2 The USAAF only dropped about 1/3 the tonnage on Dresden. Their aiming point was the rail yards. The Brits with their inaccurate night bombing dropped the majority of the bombs. Many cities received greater tonnage, but the weather conditions at Dresden and the wooden construction helped intensify the destruction. (Santa Ana anyone) MORE |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2007-11-26 13:21 |
| #1 As objectionable as restrictive ROEs are to the troops at the time, they often pay handsome dividends later. For example, I remember how even in the 1980s, older Germans were still thanking the Americans for going out of their way to not destroy cathedrals and churches, and other places of great historical value, in World War II. Everywhere but Dresden, where America is still roundly cursed for annihilating their city. By still showing respect for mosques, even when they are obviously being used as strongpoints from which to attack, has not been ignored by the Iraqis. They well know that we could have obliterated those mosques, but didn't. In turn, it shows them that we also value not just the things they value, but that we care what they think. It kills the argument that we are "Christian Crusaders" intent on destroying their religion and culture. Which would have been useful propaganda for our enemies. Certainly it makes things harder on our troops. But so does agonizing over not shooting when the enemy uses children as human shields. It really doesn't hurt soldiers morale to not destroy and kill under such circumstances. Because they know, at a very deep level, that this is what makes them better than their enemy. It is harder to be the good guy than the villain. It is annoying, however. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-11-26 11:05 |