Blast from the past. Operation Meetinghouse...more deadly than the firebombing of Dresden or the atomic blasts at Hiroshima & Nagasaki...

The charred remains of Japanese civilians pile up on the streets of Tokyo, the day after U.S. firebombing on March 9, 1945 — “Operation Meetinghouse” stands as the single most deadly air attack in the history of war, killing more people than either Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki.

Wikipedia entry here.

Read up on the bombing of Tokyo.  Everyone cringes at the horror of Hiroshima.  Everyone is alarmed at the suffering in Dresden, but no one knows or seems to care about the TREMENDOUS firepower unleashed on Tokyo.

From my chair this incident and the threat of follow on raids of this magnitude did as much OR MORE to end the war than the two atomic bomb blasts.

Remember this.  No one knew that the US had a new weapon when those two cities were assaulted.  From the position of the Japanese they reckoned that they simply faced another Tokyo, just new cities were picked.

The power of the atom thrilled and chilled the public.

Military people were in awe of the massed bombers wrecking cities.

That promise was realized. Which is another reason why the Strategic Air Command was disbanded.  They became a weapon too powerful to be allowed to go forward. They amassed too much power and were on the verge of becoming the "only service" when it came to nation state warfare (imagine if SAC was still existence today with a resurgent Russia and a looming China...no one else would get a dime especially with the tilt in the West toward airpower as the main element of power).  Air Combat Command is simply a fig leaf to keep the "bomber boys" from ruling the roost again...Tactical Air Command won the internal service battle...the neckerchief, sunglass and big watch crowd beat the guys that win wars....

Back on task though.

This is what concerns.  We have NEVER been on the receiving end of raids on our cities.  Our ground forces have NEVER been on the receiving end of the kind of massed artillery strikes that the Russians plowed on the Germans.

In essence, we have never been on the receiving end of the horrific, modern day blasts that most other countries have faced.

Considering the mental, physical and moral fortitude of many Americans I don't know how it would play out.  We would either become unbelievably savage (hopefully) or we would find ourselves in the fetal position.

I leave it to you to decide which one, but I will say this....I look around and see nothing but weakness.