Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

ChapterSeven

TIGER~TIGER~

BURNINGBRIGHT

TheSchoolofAndrewJackson

"W'henthestarsthrewdowntheirspears,

Andwater'dheavenwiththeirtears,

Didhesmilehisworktosee?

DidhewhomadetheLambmakethee?

-WilliamBlake,"TheTiger"

RidingtheTiger

I

nthelastfivemonthsofWorldWarII,Americanbombingraids
killedmore than9°0,000Japanese civilians,notcounting the
casualtiesfrom theatomicstrikes againstHiroshimaandNagasaki.'
Thisismorethantwicethetotalnumberofcombatdeaths(441,513)the
UnitedStateshassufferedinallitsforeignwarscombined.^2 Thenuclear
attacksonHiroshimaandNagasakiinAugust 1945 causedanestimated
127,150additionaldeaths,328.7percentofthetotalAmericanwardead
in 225 yearsofforeignwarsandmorethanthecombatdeathssufferedby
AmericanforcesinanyforeignwarexceptWorldWarIIitself.
OnthenightofMarch9-10,1945, 234 Superfortressesdropped