MovieChat Forums > The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2004) Discussion > Am I the only one bothered by the target...

Am I the only one bothered by the targeting of 'wooden houses' of Tokyo

posted 20 years ago by Errand
135 replies | jump to latest

Am I the only one bothered by their targeting "wooden houses" of Tokyo? He mentioned they used "fire bombs" instead of "explosive bombs" for that purpose.

I assumed that factories and important military buildings were not wooden, and thus the "explosive bombs" should be more effective against them. They used "fire bombs" to maximize the burning of wooden houses. Who lived in wooden houses? the POOR CIVILIANS!!! 100,000 of them killed in a few hours!

That made me sick to my stomach. It is one thing to unintentional kill civilians when targeting strategic targets, but TARGETING CIVILIANS? That was sick. And choosing CIVILIANS over strategic targets? I don't have word for it.

Much, much respect for Mr. McNamara to admit to it. I don't think many could. I don't know if I would. In this age of "spins", it is unusual to hear someone admitting what he did was a war crime.

[–] TheManInOil 13 years ago

Well you're clearly meant to be disturbed by it. He explicitly says it's an evil thing to do and probably a war crime.

I'm not sure why you 'respect' him for admitting it though. He still participated and even recommended that course of action, and doesn't regret it.

"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."

[–] Pearl_Jade 12 years ago

I didn't read all the posts in this thread, so apologies if I'm repeating something that has already been said.

When I watched the film, I was immediately struck by this segment and in particular this comment made by McNamara: He basically said that Gen. Curtis LeMay's rationale for firebombing 100,000 men, women, and children in Tokyo (as well as decimating other Japanese cities) was to save the lives of U.S. soldiers. If these populations had not been ravaged, then U.S. troops would have been slaughtered by the thousands when they stormed the Japanese coast.

But how are women and children (plus non-combatant men) going to slaughter American soldiers? Does the Japanese government hand out guns and missiles to its civilians during wartime? This part of McNamara's/LeMay's reasoning seemed shaky to me. I can understand targeting munitions factories, military HQs, aircraft carriers, etc.; but I don't see the tactical premise behind deliberate destruction of civilians. It seems mainly to be done to demonstrate American toughness.

[–] Kieselguhr 12 years ago

I am not troubled by anything the Allies did in WWII, since we won and the Axis lost. Had things been otherwise, this board would not exist.

The Germans anihilated Coventry as a showpiece and the Japs enslaved 1 million Asians. They both deserved total and utter anihilation.

Wer do not have the right to second-guess our fathers and their decisions unless we are prepared to accept the alternative. It is easy to get browny points for a college paper on this question, but don't pretend you are talking sense.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Yeah, not much in the way of moral superiority left to the US by the time it was all over in the East. Sort of like they´ve been combating terrorism more lately by resorting to terror themselves. A pretty neat deal of evil in order to achieve something good, indeed...

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] robertmike57 12 years ago

I am not bothered, as I put it in a larger historic context. The rape of Nanking had 250,000 civilian deaths. The battle for Iwo Jima pointed to an upcoming prolonged bloody ground war. Punishment, not proportionality was in order, it took 2 atomic bombs to convince the Japanese to surrender.

[–] retardee_69 8 years ago

I was bothered by it, indeed, never knowing about the scale of 'calamities' of sorts during World War II or any war for that matter. But, I was most surprised by how fast Japan survived it all and much more. They are incredible with how quickly they pick up on such events, regarding the recent tsunami.