It was the closing months of World War II, a joint British and American aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, Germany saw the Allies conduct four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945. More than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices fell on the city. Up to 25,000 people were killed. It was a direct bombing of the civilian population.
Yes, there was a major railway center in Dresden, but that was not bombed until days later. Critics of the bombing have asserted that Dresden was nothing more than a cultural landmark with little strategic significance, and that the attacks were indiscriminate area bombing and were not proportionate to military gains. Some even wanted the indiscreet bombing labeled a war crime.
In the closing days of World War II in the Pacific theater, two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively, killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians.
At the time the U.S. said it was justified since they doubted the Japanese would surrender, with a land invasion causing thousands of Americana lives.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014. The invasion became the largest attack on a European country since World War II. It is estimated to have caused tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands of military casualties.
Russia’s justification? In short, it was an attempt by Russian President Putin to regain territory and prevent the spread of NATO.
The Darfur genocide was the systematic killing of ethnic Darfuri people which occurred during the War in Darfur and the ongoing War in Sudan (Africa) (2023–present). It has become known as the first genocide of the 21st century. The genocide, which is being carried out against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, has led the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict several people for crimes against humanity, rape, forced transfer and torture. An estimated 200,000 people were killed between 2003 and 2005.
In 2023, ethnic violence against Masalit people flared up again as a side effect of another war in Sudan, resulting in many of those affected fleeing to Chad and beginning another escalation of the genocide.
The reason is a mix of religious, tribal and ethic differences.
Of course, we have the Holocaust, where an estimated 6 million Jews, Gypsies and assorted peoples died,.
Why? Because somebody needs to be blamed for something. People too often need an excuse to hate, and Adolph Hitler gave the Germans the perfect patsy.
Hamas attacked and killed over 1600 innocent people on October 7, 2022. In response, far right Israeli leadership declared an all encompassing attack on Gaza, with estimates circling around 30,000 Palestinian deaths. Some were Hamas warriors, but mostly civilians and it continues today.
Hamas, like many before them, hide factories, troops, rockets and leadership among the dense civilian population. No question there would be innocents sacrificed for a goal.
Hamas, according to Israeli leadership, will be wiped off the face of the earth...along with a number of women and children just trying to sustain life.
Look, I could have listed more, earlier mass deaths, but you get the idea.
No matter how civilized we become, the more human we seem to become.
You can’t kill cows, and pigs are safe depending on which religion/region you are delivered into. Simply put, life is a crap shoot.
That patch of dry arid sand is worth fighting for, because humans have principals. That holy land is sacred to somebody long dead, therefore mass killings are justified and will continue. Ahh, the human condition, it is both practical and predictable.
