peration hunderclap1945s raq

119

Perspective

by

Tom Mysiewicz

While many in the world await the coming attack on Iraq with bated breath, wondering how it will all turn out, they really needn’t.  It’s all been done before.

President Bush and his “neo-con” think-tank advisors have reportedly said Purim-eve–March 17th–as the date for commencement of hostilities should Saddam “not comply.”  This despite warnings that the bombings and subsequent attacks may produce catastrophic civilian casualties, firestorms, and the like.

As I said, there is little doubt to the outcome because it has happened before in history–in 1945.  At the time there was a lightly armed city full of civilians.  One side in the war alleged, at various times, that the city was home to (a) poison-gas plants (b) munitions plants (c) special “home guard troops” and (d) large numbers of troops retreating from a city named Bremen.  None of these were true. 

Many advisors warned against the attack.  They cautioned that unacceptably high civilian casualties would result.  They were overruled.  They were right.

On February 13th and 14th, 1945, more than a total of one thousand bombers commanded by the infamous “Bomber” Harris delivered a rain of bombs that resulted in the death of over 135,000 unarmed civilians and allied war prisoners due to suffocation and incineration.  The rest is history.

It is reported that Goebbels wanted Air Marshall Goering jailed for his assumption that the Allies would never stoop to inflicting such casualties.