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Comment by Mike_12345 | Hacker News Reader

In the good old days we intentionally bombed entire cities with the goal of killing as many innocent civilians as possible. It wasn't a technological issue. The goals have changed since then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_Wa...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_a...

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You should point to the firebombing of Tokyo [0]

Arguably more destructive than Hiroshima.

0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo

> It wasn't a technological issue.

Precision guided munition is 90's technology, this removes any need/justification to carpet bomb anything, today even artillery shells are guided (is in biggest, longest range guns have accuracy in meters).

> this removes any need/justification to carpet bomb anything,

You totally missed the point. The mass bombing in WW2 was intentional. That was specifically the goal, to kill as many civilians as possible.

I guess I fail to see how this is relevant to current and future military technology, where name of the game is stealth, high precision, range, speed, and intelligence, and not in any way about building large number of bombs/cannons that fire in general vicinity of the enemy location.

This is going off topic, but originally I was replying to this comment: "The modern era has dramatically reduced civilian casualties compared previous generations... Precision munitions contribute heavily to this reduction.". I was trying to explain that the cause of excessive civilian casualties in WW2 was not due to technological limitations. It was fully intended. It was the goal.

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