Trenchard had come out against Newall for his failure to launch a decisive strategic bombing offensive, while Salmond saw Newall's removal as the simplest way to replace Dowding as head of Fighter Command – despite Newall having also sought to sack Dowding.
A fifth question is decisive for me: what would such bombing achieve?
As had most observers, Hansell assumed that the Nazi economy was working at maximum capacity, when in fact it was still at 1938 levels of production, an error that led to an underestimation of the numbers of sorties, bomb tonnage, and time required for bombing to have a decisive effect.
According to the Associated Press's Robert Burns, Mr Obama needs a "plan B" for defeating IS. "The rout in Ramadi revealed a weak Iraqi army, slow reconciliation and a bombing campaign that, while effective, is not decisive," he writes.
Javier Solana, who was NATO's secretary general, is also portrayed as a decisive figure who tried to rally support in Europe for the bombing.
The government operation, which rebels believe will involve bombing by warplanes and also artillery bombardment, is supposedly being called "Decisive Mission".
Still, it does suggest that if the U.S. had conducted a demonstration bombing with its uranium-based weapon, it might not have made a decisive impression on the Japanese at all.
The statement issued by the (mostly official) Saudi Press Agency does say that Decisive Storm ended, but a close read reveals it doesn't say squat about ceasing the bombing.
Bombing women is no doubt a tactical pursuit to persuade the Pakistani government against this decisive operation.
Bombing alone will not break the will of Isis to hold its ground in Iraq, and it must be joined on the ground by the Iraqi military if it is to be decisive.
