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> No, there was no carpet bombing of Hanoi

actually were.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20719382 "North Vietnam, 1972: The Christmas bombing of Hanoi"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress#Vie...

"The zenith of B-52 attacks in Vietnam was Operation Linebacker II (sometimes referred to as the Christmas Bombing) which consisted of waves of B-52s (mostly D models, but some Gs without jamming equipment and with a smaller bomb load). Over 12 days, B-52s flew 729 sorties[148] and dropped 15,237 tons of bombs on Hanoi, Haiphong, and other targets.[90][149] "

>If Hanoi had been carpet bombed, it would have been leveled.

Hanoi did have air defense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress#/me...




Bombing. Not carpet bombing. The bombing was directed at military targets.

With carpet bombing, there would have been considerably more civilian casualties. If you look at actual history books, you'll find that the Vietnamese authorities were surprised at the accuracy of the bombing.


The air defenses weren't that great. They could knock down some B52s but the majority could deliver their payload and return.

The Wikipedia article on Linebacks II says the US air force targeted military targets and power plants.

Around 1700 people died. A true carpet bombing of a city like Hanoi would result in a lot more than that.


They lost dozens of B-52's during Linebacker


Around a dozen over what like ~700 sorties.




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