Quote 454 of 495

Similarly, 20 years on, when some of Lyndon Johnson's advisers
objected that bombing North Vietnam's factories and rail lines would
not do much harm to an agrarian country in which industry accounted
for only 12% of its minuscule GNP, America's air-force chiefs argued
that since its industrial sector was so small, the country was that
much more dependent on it, and would suffer all the more if it were
destroyed. In fact, the North Vietnamese responded to the bombing of
their oil tanks and railways by dispersing fuel across the country in
small drums and hauling supplies around on bicycles. But zapping
railways, factories and oil tanks was something the air force knew how
to do.
		-- "An enduring illusion", The Economist, 2006-08-26

Tags: airforce drums illusion economist chiefs bicycles factories railways gnp lyndonjohnson industrialsector northvietnam northvietnamese oiltanks