Wow, this is a great article. You are correct in pointing out the proportionality of killing rising over time. In Battle of Crecy in 1346 in Northern France, the introduction of the longbow created vast disproportionately of casualties. The English with this new long range technology killed an estimated 12,000 to 34,000 French soldiers. The French soldier killed an estimated 60-120 in return. In the battle of Northern Nigeria, near what the photo took place, the English in the 1890s during their invasion and creation of Nigeria, killed 2,000 Muslim soldiers in 20 minutes with the Maxim gun (developed from the Gatling gun), while the Muslims soldiers charging at them on horse back killed none. That battle was repeated over and over until the Muslim King surrendered his country and land, which then became part of this new English made Nigeria.
In Tokyo in 1945, American concentric incendiary bombing torched the city to the ground, killing almost everyone, an estimated 120,000 to as may as 250,000. No mercy. That was followed by Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Three cities completely destroyed by untouchable areal bombing in the course of three days, one day each. (Yes, I know Japan started the war and were atrocious in China genocide, but that’s not the point).
On October 30, 1961, Russia exploded the Czar Bomba, a nuclear weapon 3,800 times bigger than the explosion at Hiroshima and equivalent to all the bombs set off during WWII combined.
The first Gulf War promoted the idea of precision bombing where only “enemy combatants” would be killed. Today in Gaza, 70 percent of the 30,000 killed have been women and children. And no one pays attention to Northern Nigeria still, just like the first Darfur genocide wasn’t stopped, like the one there now isn’t going to be stopped, and like the Rwanda one wasn’t stopped. It shouldn’t be a surprise to the author that black genocide is ignored were white genocide, like in Ukraine, is super funded.
Thanks for this great reflection about a horrific subject that must be confronted. War is not glorious, has not stopped, and continues to get more and more destructive.
