After WWII, the US air force investigated itself and determined that the deliberate targeting of civilian housing areas was not a war crime because they contributed to the war effort by being located in Germany and having some war relevant industry or infrastructure in the same city. Independent of this justification, the actual reasoning for the strikes was to deplete enemy morale by killing civilians or at least depriving them of housing.
This has become the founding myth of the US air force, and despite the total lack of success in WWII they have continu... (read more)
After WWII, the US air force investigated itself and determined that the deliberate targeting of civilian housing areas was not a war crime because they contributed to the war effort by being located in Germany and having some war relevant industry or infrastructure in the same city. Independent of this justification, the actual reasoning for the strikes was to deplete enemy morale by killing civilians or at least depriving them of housing.
This has become the founding myth of the US air force, and despite the total lack of success in WWII they have continu... (read more)