Bloodless Coup

The Anniversary of the Tokyo Fire Bombing

Kenneth Gregg reminds us of the anniversary of one of the darkest moments of the twentieth century, and, it could be argued, American history.

I presume there will be at least a feature or two on the anniversary of the atomic bombings this summer, and I have seen stories on the anniversary of the Dresden bombing. This, however, hasn't received enough notice. And I don't just mean on the weekly news magazines. I mean in the entire American educational system, and in the country's basic social conciousness. At a time when so many discuss international politics as a zone of total war, let's be sure to remember the costs involved if we approach politics in that fashion. And let's also try to remember the specific losses that come in any great war, even if it tends to be hard to do so given the magnitude of many past horrors.