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Huge spy program exposed: NSA has hidden software in hard drives around the world

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From Business Insider, February 16, 2015
by Joseph Menn, Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world’s computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives.

That long-sought and closely guarded ability was part of a cluster of spying programs discovered by Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based security software maker that has exposed a series of Western cyberespionage operations.

Kaspersky said it found personal computers in 30 countries infected with one or more of the spying programs, with the most infections seen in Iran, followed by Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen, and Algeria. The targets included government and military institutions, telecommunication companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists, Kaspersky said.

The firm declined to publicly name the country behind the spying campaign, but said it was closely linked to Stuxnet, the NSA-led cyberweapon that was used to attack Iran’s uranium enrichment facility. The NSA is the agency responsible for gathering electronic intelligence on behalf of the United States.

A former NSA employee told Reuters that Kaspersky’s analysis was correct, and that people still in the intelligence agency valued these spying programs as highly as Stuxnet. Another former intelligence operative confirmed that the NSA had developed the prized technique of concealing spyware in hard drives, but said he did not know which spy efforts relied on it.

NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines declined to comment. This could be as big as the Stuxnet attack on an Iranian nuclear power plant (picture).

Kaspersky published the technical details of its research on Monday, which should help infected institutions detect the spying programs, some of which trace back as far as 2001.

The disclosure could further hurt the NSA’s surveillance abilities, already damaged by massive leaks by former contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden’s revelations have hurt the United States’ relations with some allies and slowed the sales of U.S. technology products abroad.

The exposure of these new spying tools could lead to greater backlash against Western technology, particularly in countries such as China, which is already drafting regulations that would require most bank technology suppliers to proffer copies of their software code for inspection.

Peter Swire, one of five members of U.S. President Barack Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology, said the Kaspersky report showed that it is essential for the country to consider the possible impact on trade and diplomatic relations before deciding to use its knowledge of software flaws for intelligence gathering.

“There can be serious negative effects on other U.S. interests,” Swire said.

TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH

According to Kaspersky, the spies made a technological breakthrough by figuring out how to lodge malicious software in the obscure code called firmware that launches every time a computer is turned on.

Disk drive firmware is viewed by spies and cybersecurity experts as the second-most valuable real estate on a PC for a hacker, second only to the BIOS code invoked automatically as a computer boots up.

“The hardware will be able to infect the computer over and over,” lead Kaspersky researcher Costin Raiu said in an interview.

Though the leaders of the still-active espionage campaign could have taken control of thousands of PCs, giving them the ability to steal files or eavesdrop on anything they wanted, the spies were selective and only established full remote control over machines belonging to the most desirable foreign targets, according to Raiu. He said Kaspersky found only a few especially high-value computers with the hard-drive infections.

Kaspersky’s reconstructions of the spying programs show that they could work in disk drives sold by more than a dozen companies, comprising essentially the entire market. They include Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, IBM, Micron, and Samsung.

Western Digital, Seagate and Micron said they had no knowledge of these spying programs. Toshiba and Samsung declined to comment. IBM did not respond to requests for comment.

How much did companies like IBM know?

GETTING THE SOURCE CODE

Raiu said the authors of the spying programs must have had access to the proprietary source code that directs the actions of the hard drives. That code can serve as a roadmap to vulnerabilities, allowing those who study it to launch attacks much more easily.

“There is zero chance that someone could rewrite the [hard drive] operating system using public information,” Raiu said.

Concerns about access to source code flared after a series of high-profile cyberattacks on Google Inc and other U.S. companies in 2009 that were blamed on China. Investigators have said they found evidence that the hackers gained access to source code from several big U.S. tech and defense companies.

It is not clear how the NSA may have obtained the hard drives’ source code. Western Digital spokesman Steve Shattuck said the company “has not provided its source code to government agencies.” The other hard drive makers would not say if they had shared their source code with the NSA.

Seagate spokesman Clive Over said it has “secure measures to prevent tampering or reverse engineering of its firmware and other technologies.” Micron spokesman Daniel Francisco said the company took the security of its products seriously and “we are not aware of any instances of foreign code.”

According to former intelligence operatives, the NSA has multiple ways of obtaining source code from tech companies, including asking directly and posing as a software developer. If a company wants to sell products to the Pentagon or another sensitive U.S. agency, the government can request a security audit to make sure the source code is safe.

“They don’t admit it, but they do say, ‘We’re going to do an evaluation, we need the source code,'” said Vincent Liu, a partner at security consulting firm Bishop Fox and former NSA analyst. “It’s usually the NSA doing the evaluation, and it’s a pretty small leap to say they’re going to keep that source code.”

Kaspersky called the authors of the spying program “the Equation group,” named after their embrace of complex encryption formulas.

The group used a variety of means to spread other spying programs, such as by compromising jihadist websites, infecting USB sticks and CDs, and developing a self-spreading computer worm called Fanny, Kaspersky said.

Fanny was like Stuxnet in that it exploited two of the same undisclosed software flaws, known as “zero days,” which strongly suggested collaboration by the authors, Raiu said. He added that it was “quite possible” that the Equation group used Fanny to scout out targets for Stuxnet in Iran and spread the virus.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Business Insider)

This article originally appeared at Reuters. Copyright 2015.

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-russian-researchers-expose-breakthrough-us-spying-program-2015-2?utm_content=bufferc0d4b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Used under Fair Use Rules.

Thirty four civilians killed in just one village of Khryashevatoye in two weeks — the U.S. war against the people of Ukraine

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From Fort Russ

February 15, 2015
Polina Ritz – Facebook
Translated by Kristina Rus
This is a memorial in the village of Khryashevatoye near Lugansk. Here are the names of 34 victims who died from August 13th to 29th, 2014. 28 of them were inhabitants of the village.
To understand the scale of the tragedy: 28 victims –  2.3% of the total population of Khryashevatoye. It’s like, for example, they killed 66 thousand people in Kiev in two weeks for nothing. Or 193 thousand in New York.
Is it clear? Is it clear, damn militarists? Is it clear, armchair warriors?
I don’t believe that on February 15, there will suddenly be peace. But I pray about it. That there will be no more deaths in this war. Not one.
Kristina Rus: 
On the list  you can see 4, 3, 2 people with the same last name, from the same family. This is just one village. And how many villages, towns and cities were in the line of fire over the last 10 months? 
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/02/thirty-four-people-died-in-just-one.html

Ukrainian troops surrender by the hundreds

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Posted on Fort Russ

2/17/2015
Novorossia Militia Update

Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

“Ukrainian punitive troops are surrendering in large numbers. Journalists have filmed the surrender of one of the punitive units in the Debaltsevo cauldron. More than 70 men laid down their arms to save their lives and surrendered to LPR People’s Militia. All punitive troops who lay down their arms and cease resistance will receive hot food and warm clothing, as well as medical aid if they are wounded. The main reward for their conscience and their refusal to continue the war is that their lives will be spared.”

Video of the surrender of the 70-strong Ukrainian unit.

Ukrainian soldiers ordered to break out “on their own”

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Posted on Fort Russ

2/17/2015
The Ukrainian military is attempting to break through the Debaltsevo Cauldron

Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

Fighting around Debaltsevo escalated during the second half of the day, according to DPR. “The situation has grown more complex. The level of shelling from the outside of the cauldron has increased. UAF moved against Logvinovo to break a corridor into Debaltsevo,” DPR Ministry of Defense representative Eduard Basurin announced on Tuesday.

He added that DPR forces do not respond to provocations but resist enemy offensive actions. According to Basurin, the militia had established contact with the Ukrainian military and are holding the first meeting of the Joint Control and Coordination Center.

Apart from that, the mothers of Ukrainian soldiers surrounded in Debaltsevo say that troops there received orders to abandon their defensive positions and equipment and attempt to exit the encirclement in small groups. They say command and control has been completely lost, which means the soldiers are on their own. This became known to several mothers who established telephone contact with their sons. On February 17th the relatives of the soldiers are holding a spontaneous meeting at the Ministry of Defense in Kiev.

J.Hawk’s Comment: So it’s clear that the Debaltsevo cauldron is crumbling, it’s only a question of how many Ukrainian soldiers will manage to exit it. Some no doubt will, but others will become prisoners–there are reports that some 300 junta troops surrendered in Debaltsevo alone so far. But whatever equipment they brought with them to Debaltsevo is going to fall into the hands of Novorossia’s army.

These were the best units the Ukrainian army had. Let’s not forget the “fourth wave of mobilization” had only just begun, so the forces at Debaltsevo were the remnants of the regular, pre-civil war Ukrainian military or the survivors of the campaigns of 2014. For all the problems with the most recent wave of mobilization, the Kiev junta can count on a trickle of replacements. But the heavy equipment is for all intents and purposes irreplaceable. Once these tanks, BMPs, artillery are gone, they are gone for good, and it would take a long time to bring the Ukrainian military back to the state it was in only two months ago.

http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/02/ukrainian-soldiers-ordered-to-break-out.html

DPR leader: Kiev betrayed 5,000 encircled in Debaltsevo

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From Sputnik News, February 14, 2015

As Debaltseve is not mentioned in the Minsk agreement and that means that Kiev “simply betrayed” 5,000 Ukrainian armed forces’ soldiers.

A Ukrainian serviceman is pictured at his position near Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine, February 8, 2015
© REUTERS/ Gleb Garanich
Putin Instructs Military Experts to Determine if Kiev Forces Encircled in Debaltseve

DONETSK (Sputnik) – The forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) willcease fire everywhere except for inner regions of the self-proclaimed republic, any attempts of Kiev soldiers to break out the encirclement at the town of Debaltseve will be stopped, theDPR head said Saturday.“We are ceasing fire everywhere but inner regions of DPR. Any attempt of [Kiev soldiers] to leave the ‘cauldron’ [Debaltseve encirclement] will be stopped. I have already given this order,” Alexander Zakharchenko told reporters.

“There is not a single word about Debaltseve in [Minsk] agreements. That means that Ukraine simply betrayed 5,000 people in the ‘cauldron’,” Zakharchenko said.

Debaltseve, one of Ukraine’s biggest railroad junctions, has become the site of intense fighting between Kiev and southeastern Ukrainian pro-independence fighters.

Burnt military machinery in Uglegorsk. Background: a DPR bus column heading to Debaltseve for evacuation of local residents from the combat zone.
Donbas Forces Ready to Cease Fire in Debaltseve Area Immediately
Earlier in the day, deputy head of the DPR forces Eduard Basurin stated that the republic was not planning to let Kiev soldiers trapped in Debaltseve leave the town until they surrender. According to Basurin, Kiev told soldiers to not surrender, as they would be taken out ofDebaltseve in rotations or usingOSCE help after February 15.Kiev denies claims that its soldiers are encircled in Debaltsevo.

During Thursday’s Minsk talks, the leaders of Kiev and the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk managed to sign a deal, stipulating a ceasefire from Saturday night, prisoner swaps, weaponry withdrawal and constitutional changes in Ukraine.

Donetsk forces announced readiness to cease fire and allow surrounded Kiev soldiers to leave the Debaltseve area “on respectful conditions.”

An earlier ceasefire agreement reached by the warring sides last September broke down, with clashes intensifying in recent weeks. Debaltseve, one of Ukraine’s biggest railroad junctions, has become the site of intense fighting. According to reports, up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops remain surrounded after attempting to recapture the contested town.

 

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150214/1018270783.html#ixzz3Rj1kQLp6

Events in Debaltsevo — “The lies are obvious…We no longer control Debaltsevo”

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Posted on Fort Russ

2/18/2015
“The Debaltsevo Cauldron had closed. It’s a second Ilovaysk.”
By Yuliana Skibitskaya

Translated from Russian and Ukrainian by J.Hawk

We have collected the statements from combat participants and commentary from social networks concerning the events at Debaltsevo.

Dmitriy Gross, Deputy Commander, 25th “Kievan Russ” Battalion

“We are under fire from mortars, Grads, self-propelled howitzers, small arms, and lots of other stuff. There is close combat in the streets. 90% of the civilian population had left. Debaltsevo is not fully surrounded, but all roads leading into it are under militant [sic] fire. It is practically impossible to enter the city.

“Gusar,” an officer of the 128th Brigade (published on the Zerkalo Nedeli web site):

“We are facing the second Ilovaysk. It’s been five days since the cauldron had closed. When the Donetsk Airport was taken, they lied to people for five days that it’s under control. In reality it was the other way around. Debaltsevo is under de-facto encirclement since five days ago. There used to be a small path out, which they tried to use to break out. They lost vehicles but broke out. The enemy occupied the commanding heights along the road and has it covered with fire. People are telling us nice stories that there are still communication routs, some detours, dirt roads…There was a road like that, but as of yesterday the convoy of five vehicles that left Debaltsevo yesterday lost all five of them. Only seven guys made it out. We don’t know what happened to the rest.”

Viktor Baloga, Politician [Transcarpathia oligarch, governor] (comment on facebook).

“Mr. President. You and I both know well that we no longer control Debaltsevo. I’ll say more. Preventing the media from reporting the true state of affairs will not help anyone. Our own HQ is lying worse than the Russians. Moreover, the lies are obvious—there are so many people there that it’s impossible to conceal the truth. My local guys are there, lots of them. But since nobody is doing anything, they are losing faith.

You know what needs to be done, both in the military and diplomatic sense. In other words, either we cancel the ceasefire which had never existed for the entire region, switch on the artillery and send weapons and ammunition in. Or we decide to withdraw. The decision must be made NOW!”

Deputy Commander of the 25th “Kievan Rus” Battalion

“The situation in Debaltsevo is critical, very bad. 90% of Debaltsevo is under their control. It is in operational encirclement. All three roads to the city are mined and under dense enemy fire. Our higher command is gone. The Sector command and commander were here. But in reality he abandoned this position and caused  senseless losses. The command is not in control of the situation here.”

Vitaliy Tilizhenko, volunteer (facebook)

“The Debaltsevo cauldron had closed! There is exfiltration by small groups. Somebody is covering the withdrawal and holding positions, gradually abandoning them and withdrawing. We have lost the police HQ and the rail station in the morning. We lost 1/3 of our equipment at Ilovaysk. We’ll lose 1/5th of all equipment, abandoning it because people are more valuable, and there will be nothing to fight with, as always. All withdrawing groups are falling into ambushes and are losing men and equipment. The ambushes are growing stronger and more fortified with every hour, and the percentage of people making it out of the cauldron is dropping. They won’t say this on TV. Everything is great there. Pete [Poroshenko] outplayed everyone, no need for martial law, Europe is concerned, etc.”

Debaltsevo Update, morning 2/17

“The separatists [sic] fired from all kinds of weapons, from mortars to SP howitzers and Uragan rocket launchers. Our guys held their positions to the last. We had no communications with them. They started to come out of the city at night, in a column of trucks and APCs. There were many wounded in the column. Our intelligence was able to find a relatively save path out. Our guys broke into groups. ‘McCloud’s’ group went second. Tolya was behind them. They fell into an ambush. Lost lots of equipment, but managed to break out. But that corridor is now closed.”

 

http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/02/its-second-ilovaysk-ukrainian-reactions.html

“Horror, darkness, fire, and death”–the agony of Debaltsevo Cauldron

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From Fort Russ

2/18/2015
The Mopping Up of Debaltsevo
By Yurasumy

Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

The cauldron will cease to exist in a few hours, a day at the most. Novorossia’s army has taken most of Debaltsevo. UAF and volunteer battalions have lost their HQ, therefore are acting in an uncoordinated, chaotic fashion, in order to save themselves. Many of the soldiers who have nothing to fear (draftees and reservists) are laying down their arms. DPR/LPR is mentioning hundreds of POWs. But that is only the beginning.

Most of the prisoners will likely be captured today or tomorrow, and here’s why.

Up to yesterday UAF troops could still hope they’d be rescued. The yesterday’s assault on Debaltsevo by Republican forces [a reference to the Spanish Civil War? Because the other side is fascist, after all…] which went very well, showed that the cauldron can quickly turn into a graveyard unless they do something fast.

They can do only two things: either surrender or break out. Surrendering is not the best option for the volunteers. The draftees and reservists it means a new lease on life. It means getting out of the war which feels alien to many of them. Moreover, the experience from last summer means that captivity equals life and…freedom. Many UAF prisoners prefer not to return to Ukraine but rather to sit out the mess in Russia—that’s the reality of the civil war.

But one has to keep in mind that these brigades are not merely reservists. Many territorial battalions have been incorporated into their organization (the 128th Brigade has three of them). So far from all 128th Brigade soldiers will be wiling to surrender. Nevertheless, already last evening we were seeing reports that the soldiers of the 40th “Krivbass” Battalion were surrendering. This was reported by the battalion commander himself.

Already yesterday we say several units withdraw toward Debaltsevo, which could have meant preparations for a break-out. Indeed, it began yesterday morning. It’s hard to tell how successful it was (it’s chaos out there), but it’s clear that they suffered enormous losses in the attempt. Semenchenko writes the following on facebook:

“The situation at Debaltsevo is growing more tense. I received a report from a commander who is holding positions on the “road of life” closer to Debaltsevo. The column exiting Debaltsevo was without tank support for part of the way. Terrorist [sic] tanks came out and shot it to pieces. Our artillery and Grads are firing against enemy tanks. We are evacuating the killed and wounded. We are holding the road. The information is being verified.”

At the same time, Poroshenko announced earlier today that UAF units are leaving Debaltsevo in practically a parade formation (and with only 30 wounded). But Porky has certain credibility issues. It’s already clear that the break-out attempts led to huge personnel losses and a near total loss of heavy equipment. We’ll know how much only in several days. We’ll also find out how many UAF soldiers made the rational decision to surrender to avoid death during the break out. To be sure, DPR/LPR authorities said they are not going to announce the identities of these soldiers if they don’t wish them to be revealed, and will release the captives to their relatives.

In the meantime the situation in Debaltsevo is this: HORROR, DARKNESS, FIRE, and DEATH. One thing is for sure: the comparison between Debaltsevo and Ilovaysk is not only appropriate but obvious.

P.S. The Debaltsevo recriminations will play themselves out against the background of the first anniversary of the coup. Hang on, Porky.

 

http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/02/horror-darkness-fire-and-death-agony-of.html

Kiev orders entire rail system in Debaltsevo to be mined

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From Sputnik News, February 8, 2015

The authorities of the Ukrainian armed group gave an order to mine the entire rail infrastructure of Debaltseve, according to deputy head of the self-proclaimed Dontesk People’s Republic’s (DPR) militia Eduard Basurin.

DONETSK, February 8 (Sputnik) – Kiev authorities have ordered their forces to mine the entire rail infrastructure in the eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve, deputy head of the self-proclaimed Dontesk People’s Republic’s (DPR) militia Eduard Basurin said Sunday.

“According to information received during the questioning of two surrendered soldiers of the 25th brigade near Chernukhino, the authorities of the Ukrainian group gave an order to mine the entire rail infrastructure of Debaltseve,” Basurin told reporters.

Kiev has decided on this measure to prevent future rail links between the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk republics after the Ukrainian forces retreat, Basurin explained.

“Locomotive and rolling stocks are being mined, the railway junctions at the Debaltseve-Sortirovochnaya station, locomotive depots and control centers, as well as the administrative zone of the Debaltseve station,” Basurin said, adding that municipal pumping and transformer stations have already been mined.

Debaltseve, located on the border between Ukraine’s two breakaway regions, has recently become the scene of heavy fighting between the Ukrainian troops and the local militia. Thousands of Kiev soldiers are reportedly trapped in the town surrounded by the independence supporters.Earlier this week, the warring sides agreed on a temporary ceasefire to evacuate civilians from the contested city. According to later local media reports, shelling in Debaltsevo continues.

Despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and pro-independence militia in September 2014, fighting has continued in Donbas, intensifying in the first weeks of this year. The two warring sides have traded blame for the recent string of shelling attacks in eastern Ukraine.

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150208/1017975304.html

“What truce? They’re still killing civilians”

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Posted on Fort Russ

video report by Eliseo Bertolasi
Published in Il Fatto Quotidiano tv
February 17, 2016
Subtitles and text translated from Italian by Tom Winter
The subtitles:
That’s the reply to the truce!
There’s never been a “truce.” They’re still killing civilians.
Have you been in the town. Well, there’s the truce for you.
[paint on wall] The Junta will not pass.
That was a school; this was a soccer field
[painted over basement: “There are people here” (Non-combatants)
“Bomb Shelter”
“This elderly man was killed by mortar fire. It was his blood you saw in the snow.”
The text:
Zorinsk, Chernukino, Pervomaisk, Stakanov. The front runs along the line of these villages a few kilometers from Lugansk, the capital of the self-proclaimed Peoples Republic. The militia, the so-called pro-russian separatists, explain that it is a zig-zag front, where the lines dovetail, so the risk of meeting Kiev troops is high. In this part of eastern Ukraine, the Minsk accords are not yet operative, and the snowstorm does not stop the fighting, either. At Zorinsk, not far from Perevalsk, one constantly hears the thunder of explosions, artillery, and multiple-launch rockets. The morning of the 16th, according to militiamen, a fragmentation shell fired from the Ukrainian lines killed an elderly man and seriously injured one other. Despite the weather, there is still a lot of blood on the snow.
Eliseo Bertolasi
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/02/what-truce-theyre-still-killing.html

The horror of Dresden, February 13-15, 1945: patterns, precedents, and scruples

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Chief of the Air Staff Charles Portal had calculated that bombing civilians could kill 900,000 in 18 months, seriously injure a million more, destroy six million homes, and “de-house” 25 million, creating a humanitarian crisis that, he believed, would speed up the war.

This thinking was not trumpeted from the rooftops. But in November 1941 the Commander-in-Chief [Harris] of Bomber Command said he had been intentionally bombing civilians for a year. “I mention this because, for a long time, the Government, for excellent reasons, has preferred the world to think that we still held some scruples and attacked only what the humanitarians are pleased to call Military Targets. I can assure you, gentlemen, that we tolerate no scruples.”

From the Telegraph, February 13, 2015
By Dominic Selwood

Dresden was a civilian town with no military significance. Why did we burn its people?

If there was no good strategic reason for it, then not even the passage of time can make it right

Today marks the 70th anniversary of “Operation Thunderclap”, one of the twentieth century’s most controversial military actions.

From 13 to 15 February 1945, British (and some American) heavy bombers dropped 2,400 tons of high explosives and 1,500 tons of incendiary bombs onto the ancient cathedral city of Dresden. In just a few hours, around 25,000 to 35,000 civilians were blown up or incinerated.

Victor Gregg, a British para captured at Arnhem, was a prisoner of war in Dresden that night who was ordered to help with the clear up. In a 2014 BBC interview he recalled the hunt for survivors after the apocalyptic firestorm. In one incident, it took his team seven hours to get into a 1,000-person air-raid shelter in the Altstadt. Once inside, they found no survivors or corpses: just a green-brown liquid with bones sticking out of it. The cowering people had all melted. In areas further from the town centre there were legions of adults shrivelled to three feet in length. Children under the age of three had simply been vaporised.

It was not the first time a German city had been firebombed. “Operation Gomorrah” had seen Hamburg torched on 25 July the previous year. Nine thousand tons of explosives and incendiaries had flattened eight square miles of the city centre, and the resulting inferno had created an oxygen vacuum that whipped up a 150-mile-an-hour wind burning at 800 Celsius. The death toll was 37,000 people. (By comparison, the atom bomb in killed 40,000 on day one.)

Chief of the Air Staff Charles Portal had calculated that bombing civilians could kill 900,000 in 18 months, seriously injure a million more, destroy six million homes, and “de-house” 25 million, creating a humanitarian crisis that, he believed, would speed up the war.

This thinking was not trumpeted from the rooftops. But in November 1941 the Commander-in-Chief [Harris] of Bomber Command said he had been intentionally bombing civilians for a year. “I mention this because, for a long time, the Government, for excellent reasons, has preferred the world to think that we still held some scruples and attacked only what the humanitarians are pleased to call Military Targets. I can assure you, gentlemen, that we tolerate no scruples.”

The debate over this strategy of targeting civilians is still hotly contentious and emotional, in Britain and abroad. There is no doubting the bravery, sacrifice, and suffering of the young men who flew the extraordinarily dangerous missions: 55,573 out of Bomber Command’s 125,000 flyers never came home. The airmen even nicknamed their Commander-in-Chief “Butcher” Harris, highlighting his scant regard for their survival.

Supporters of Britain’s “area bombing” (targeting civilians instead of military or industrial sites) maintain that it was a vital part of the war. Churchill wrote that he wanted “absolutely devastating, exterminating attacks by very heavy bombers from this country upon the Nazi homeland”. In another letter he called it “terror bombing”. His aim was to demoralise the Germans to catalyse regime change. Research suggests that the soaring homelessness levels and family break ups did indeed depress civilian morale, but there is no evidence it helped anyone prise Hitler’s cold hand off the wheel.

Others maintain that it was ghastly, but Hitler started it so needed to be answered in a language he understood. Unfortunately, records show that the first intentional “area bombing” of civilians in the Second World War took place at Monchengladbach on 11 May 1940 at Churchill’s orders (the day after he dramatically became prime minister), and four months before the Luftwaffe began its Blitz of British cities.

Not everyone was convinced by city bombing. Numerous military and church leaders voiced strong opposition. Freemason Dyson, now one of Britain’s most eminent physicists, worked at Bomber Command from 1943-5. He said it eroded his moral beliefs until he had no moral position at all. He wanted to write about it, but then found the American novelist Kurt Vonnegut had said everything he wanted to say.

Like Gregg, Vonnegut had been a prisoner in Dresden that night. He claimed that only one person in the world derived any benefit from the slaughterhouse — him, because he wrote a famous book about it which pays him two or three dollars for every person killed.

Germany’s bombing of British cities was equally abhorrent. Germany dropped 35,000 tons on Britain over eight months in 1940-1 killing an estimated 39,000. (In total, the UK and US dropped around 1.9 million tons on Germany over 7 years.)

Bombing German cities clearly did have an impact on the war. The question, though, is how much. The post-war US Bombing Survey estimated that the effect of all allied city bombing probably depleted the German economy by no more than 2.7 per cent.

Allowing for differences of opinion on the efficacy or necessity of “area bombing” in the days when the war’s outcome remained uncertain (arguably until Stalingrad in February 1943), the key question on today’s anniversary remains whether the bombing of Dresden in February 1945 was militarily necessary — because by then the war was definitely over. Hitler was already in his bunker playing out his final absurd fantasies. The British and Americans were at the German border after winning D-Day the previous summer, while the Russians under Zhukov and Konev were well inside eastern Germany and racing pell-mell to Berlin.

Dresden was a civilian town without military significance. It had no material role of any sort to play in the closing months of the war. So, what strategic purpose did burning its men, women, old people, and children serve? Churchill himself later wrote that “the destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing”.

Seventy years on, fewer people ask precisely which military objective justified the hell unleashed on Dresden. If there was no good strategic reason for it, then not even the passage of time can make it right, and the questions it poses remain as difficult as ever in a world in which civilians have continued to suffer unspeakably in the wars of their autocratic leaders.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11410633/Dresden-was-a-civilian-town-with-no-military-significance.-Why-did-we-burn-its-people.html

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