Reply #55: Answer this [View All]

the point is the massive death and destruction that can be caused by a SINGLE PLANE carrying a SINGLE BOMB

Why does it matter?

Why is One plane worse than One Thousand planes?

Why is one bomb worse than thousands?

Dresden was much WORSE than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dresden had NO point other than to show the Soviets (and Stalin in particular) what the combined might of the US and British airpower could do. It served no purpose militarily, it did not hasten the end of the war, it did not 'break' the Germans. Dresden was going to be in 'Allied' hands within a few weeks whether or not it was destroyed by air. You can nominally make the argument that the Atomics used in Japan helped bring about the surrender of the Japanese, you cannot do that with Dresden.

And while you might be right that some elements within Japan were ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped, you cannot make that argument in regards to the Japanese Military, they were still looking for 'terms' that would allow them to stay in power, which is one condition we, the US, were not going to (and did not) allow to happen. And face it the Japanese Military was in control. And looking at Okinawa, the invasion of Japan would have been horrenous to everyone, The US Military, the Japanese Military, and the Japanese citizens themselves. Millions would have been killed on ALL sides.