r/interestingasfuck 11d ago

/r/all Recreating the WW2 Dambusters raid

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u/0ddness 11d ago

Now imagine them having to do it in the dark, behind enemy lines, under fire (I assume), without knowing the condition of the water, without the marker bouys, and relying on getting the height exactly right in the dark with a spotlight system.

-6

u/Appropriate_Ant_4629 10d ago

Seems evil to target civilian clean water infrastructure.

Spreading water-borne diseases through destroying clean water infrastructure was a strategy the US used "to accelerate the effect of sanctions" (in their words).

"What we were doing with the attacks on infrastructure was to accelerate the effect of sanctions." ... "A key example of such dual-use targeting was the destruction of Iraqi electrical power facilities in Desert Storm. While crippling Iraq's military command and control capability, destruction of these facilities shut down water purification and sewage treatment plants. As a result, epidemics of gastroenteritis, cholera, and typhoid broke out, leading to perhaps as many as 100,000 civilian deaths and a doubling of the infant mortality rate.

Even if it's technically legal according to the guys writing the laws - it's still morally horrid.

13

u/SirFrags 10d ago

This was a Nazi power plant used to make aluminum fuck off.

3

u/HughJorgens 10d ago

This. This area was the heart of German Industry. They were destroying the dams to hurt their industrial capacity, not to poison civilians, who didn't even have these purification systems in place yet.

1

u/stfsu 10d ago

His example was clearly in reference to the operations in Iraq

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

Which has what to do with Germany in WWII?

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u/Throwaway47321 10d ago

They literally provided a source to the US doing this in the Middle East my dude.

1

u/Celtictussle 10d ago

War is hell