Quote 453 of 495

To the objection that little logic seemed to lie behind their choice
of targets, the air commanders merely insisted that their real target
was a concept--enemy morale and will--rather than any particular
physical object. That proved to be a remarkably resilient theme over
the decades. "Bomber" Harris, more honest than many of the Allied air
commanders of the second world war when it came to acknowledging the
imprecision of the bombing technology of the day, conceded that it was
not possible accurately to destroy from the air any targets smaller
than a few square miles. For that reason, he argued, the right targets
to hit were the only things that were bigger--ie, entire cities. This,
he insisted, would win the war.
		-- "An enduring illusion", The Economist, 2006-08-26

Tags: logic targets decades illusion economist objection imprecision secondworldwar alliedair target bomberharris aircommanders