Tiger, Tiger,BurningBright 2191,167tonsofincendiarybombsoverdowntownTokyo;83,793Japanese
bodieswerefoundinthecharredremains,anumbergreaterthanthe
80,942combatfatalitiestheUnitedStatessustainedintheKoreanand
Vietnamesewarscombined.4
Somechargethatracialantipathygavea uniqueferocitytoAmerican
wartacticsinthePacifictheater.Hardly.ItappearsthatmoreGerman
civiliansdiedinthethree-night-IongAnglo-Americanfirebombingof
DresdenthanAmericansoldiersdiedinWorldWarI; militaryhistorian
MichaelClodfelterobservesthatatthetimetheDresdenraidsconsti-
tutedthelargestslaughterofciviliansbymilitaryforcesinoneplaceat
onetimesincethecampaignsofGenghisKhan.s
Itisn'tfashionabletosayso,buttheUnitedStatesofAmericaisthe
mostdangerousmilitarypowerinthehistoryoftheworld.SinceWorld
WarII, theUnitedStateshascontinuedtoemploydevastatingforce
againstbothcivilandmilitarytargets.Outofa prewarpopulationof
9-49 million, an estimated I million (North) Korean civilians are
believedtohavediedastheresultoftheactionsofAmericanforcesdur-
ingthe1950:-53conflictthere.^6 Almost34,000Americansoldierswere
killedduringtheconflict,meaningthatU.S.forceskilledapproximately
30 NorthKoreanciviliansforeveryAmericansoldierwhodied.
TheUnitedStatesdroppedalmostthreetimesasmuchexplosiveton-
nageintheVietnamWarasitusedinWorldWarII.7Theconditionsof
thatunhappyconflictmakeciviliancasualtiesdifficulttoestimate,but
some365,000Vietnameseciviliansarebelievedtohavediedasa result
ofthewarduringtheperiodofAmericaninvolvement.^8 Thatis a ratioof
8 VietnameseciviliandeathsforeveryAmericankilledinthewar.9
Theratioofciviliantocombatdeathsinthesetwowarssurpasses
theratioobservedinGermany'seasterntheaterofoperationsinWorld
WarII.Germanforcesareestimatedtohavesufferedslightlymorethan
2 millioncombatdeathsinthewaragainsttheSovietUnion,andtohave
beendirectlyresponsibleforapproximately 10 million(Soviet)civilian
deaths,rowitha ratioontheorderof5 Sovietciviliandeathsforevery
Germansoldierkilled.WhateverthevalidityofClausewitz'sadmonition
thatcasualtyreportsare neveraccurate,seldomtruthful,andinmost
casesdeliberatelyfalsified,thesenumbersaretoostrikingtoignore.
Theydonot,ofcourse,suggesta moralparallelbetweenthebehavior
ofGerman andJapanese aggressors and American forces seekingto
defeattheaggressorsintheshortestpossibletime.FurthermoreGerman
andJapaneseforcesusedtheindiscriminatemurderofciviliansasa rou-