Anyway, this was different. Merv had surrendered. FDR was bombing cities that were still participating in a war against the Allies. Another factor that makes these incomparable is that the Mongol army killed all these people with swords and spears, not unguided bombs. That means the civilians were killed deliberately.
It may be small comfort for the civilians killed by bombing runs during WW2 that they were collateral damage, but the intention to kill civilians tells us something about the moral character of the Mongol army.
It doesn't, I was just pointing out that if atrocious military actions means that you can't say anything good about a person there are a lot of leaders included in that.
>Anyway, this was different. Merv had surrendered. FDR was bombing cities that were still participating in a war against the Allies.
Merv has surrendered, but the war wasn't over. It wasn't just mindless killing, it was for a military objective.
>Another factor that makes these incomparable is that the Mongol army killed all these people with swords and spears, not unguided bombs. That means the civilians were killed deliberately.
You don't target enemy military assets with fire bombings.
>It may be small comfort for the civilians killed by bombing runs during WW2 that they were collateral damage, but the intention to kill civilians tells us something about the moral character of the Mongol army.
The motivation for it wasn't to kill civilians, it was always for military reasons.
Tokyo bombings killed around 200,000 people, a small fraction of the 6 million who lived there. Genghis Khan would have had his soldiers kill most, if not all of the 6 million.
You mean like Roosevelt had his soliders kill most, if not all citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The objective of the two things is remarkably similar by the way - to demonstrate your might and make the enemy surrender out of fear.
Anyway, this was different. Merv had surrendered. FDR was bombing cities that were still participating in a war against the Allies. Another factor that makes these incomparable is that the Mongol army killed all these people with swords and spears, not unguided bombs. That means the civilians were killed deliberately.
It may be small comfort for the civilians killed by bombing runs during WW2 that they were collateral damage, but the intention to kill civilians tells us something about the moral character of the Mongol army.