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War Games
in response to reader comment: Not quite

Submitted by Noisesome, Mar 25, 2008 09:55

>> I can't say I know the answer, though I wonder if directed attacks against the fuel infrastructure wouldn't have been just as effective without such civilian casualties.

Attacks on fuel refineries (and co-located chemical plants) had a profound effect on the German war effort. German artillery shells were often loaded with 50% rock salt instead of high explosives, sparing countless Allied infantrymen. Typical loses during air raids on Germany were about 5% of the force, raids against heavily defended fuel plants incurred casualities as high as 20%. Perhaps if the Russians had cooperated by allowing shuttle bombing, or allowed the U.S. Army Air Force to operate from bases in Russia. But the Russians viewed U.S. military presence on Soviet territory with grim suspicion.

Germany employed two million troops in air defense, troops with high value assets such as 88 mm canon that could have been employed with devastating effect on the Eastern front or against the Normandy invasion.

It is a matter of fact that German troops in the west outnumbered the Allies about 2 to 1. The Allies had a seven to one superiority in artillery and about a five to one (numerical) superiority in tanks. While much is made of the superiority of German tanks, only a few models, deployed in small numbers, actually enjoyed any advantage over the Sherman.

The value of air supremacy is most clearly illustrated by seige of Bastogne. While the German offensive was blunted by ground troops, when the weather cleared, American air power turned a defeat into a rout.

Officially the U.S. Army Air Force never targeted civilians or civilian targets (unlike the Luftwaffe or the RAF) in Germany (or in Japan for that matter). Navigation and ordance were not capable of avoiding heavy civilian collateral damage using World War II era technology. If the Germans had not employed such capable and spirited air defenses, the bombers could have bombed at lower altitudes and slower speed, placing more ordance on target and sparing civilians casualties. We could no more expect the Germans to do this than we could expect the Americans to spare German military targets.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
Thank you for exposing Baker and his dangerous book. As I read your review, I kept thinking about Jonah Goldberg's... [MORE]	Paul Cruce	Mar 25, 2008 10:32
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Max Greene comments that since Baker defines Goebbels as an "anti-intellectual monster" he doesn't rehabilitate Goebbels character by using him... [MORE]	William Maron	Mar 25, 2008 10:00
The reviewer makes it quite clear why this is a terrible book. He points out how the author has not... [MORE]	MClark	Mar 25, 2008 13:43
Unfortunately, this viewpoint is all too common in history departments at colleges throughout the country. The influence of Chomsky and... [MORE]	NJB	Mar 17, 2008 18:10
So often history is updated to serve a current trend or philosophy. People like Nicholson Baker seem to lack... [MORE]	Roger Strong	Mar 17, 2008 03:14
Thank God there are people as sane, informed, and articulate as Adam Kirsch to put a damper on run-amoks like... [MORE]	Bill Parker	Mar 15, 2008 20:38
america was compelled to join ww2 on the side of the allies only after japan attacked pearl harbor. it was... [MORE]	B Eluma	Mar 15, 2008 08:03
This revisionist history of WW2 is seriouse. Noam Chomsky named once a pacifist from WW2 as his hero. And he... [MORE]	Yosifon	Mar 15, 2008 02:11
I thank the writer for the excellent review. I lambasted the Los Angeles Times in a letter for an inexcusable... [MORE]	Jonathan Eddison	Mar 14, 2008 21:33
I know something about WW II and I take Human Smoke seriously . I am certain that I will not... [MORE]	Robert Birnbaum	Mar 14, 2008 10:21
I applaud the author's debunking of Human Smoke. Nicholson Baker seems to have a poor grasp of history in that... [MORE]	Ken Dobler	Mar 14, 2008 08:43
Sustainable peace is one of those ideals history has failed to deliver. War is a constant and regular feature of... [MORE]	Robert Landbeck	Mar 13, 2008 14:41
'Smoke' appears to be a shameless shower of venality. Sensationalism at all costs and The L.A. Times is interested only in... [MORE]	Patrick	Mar 13, 2008 13:44
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Aaron, I think you're right about the importance of the strategic bombing campaign for destroying the Luftwaffe. In that sense,... [MORE]	Kent G. Budge	Mar 20, 2008 15:08
>> I can't say I know the answer, though I wonder if directed attacks against the fuel infrastructure wouldn't have...	Noisesome	Mar 25, 2008 09:55
Gosh, who ever would have guessed that there was a question about "the continuing centrality of World War II in... [MORE]	Michael Anderson	Mar 13, 2008 12:17
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. . . especially as he volunteered in 1939. [MORE]	gilbo	Mar 14, 2008 18:36
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After reading all the gushing comments in Amazon about this book your review came as breath of fresh air. [MORE]	andrew	Mar 12, 2008 11:12
I have just begun reading this book but I can already see that you have missed an important point in... [MORE]	rhbee	Mar 12, 2008 10:36
Your review points out one of the fundamental problems, growing over the last 30 years or so, namely, that in... [MORE]	Brian Switzer	Mar 13, 2008 08:52
"stories, quotes and dates" are useless without context. I could quote the president of Iran's assertion that there is not... [MORE]	MEB	Mar 13, 2008 11:57
this one have only read the review. If you're are really going to question the value of someone's work then... [MORE]	rhbee	Mar 13, 2008 21:09