TOTD:
the instigator of the carpet bombing policy
So who was that then? Certainly not Harris who took over the Bombing Campaign which had already switched by fait accompli to bombing by night in the face of the huge losses sustained by day. That was the policy and it was Harris's duty to execute it. That he was an enthusiast of Strategic Bombing is hardly surprising as that was presumably what got him the job! I don't think that there was ever a policy of "Carpet Bombing" per se which was a journalistic rather than military description of the campaign. hence the urgent and costly endeavours to improve bombing accuracy right up to the very end. The reality was that if crews managed to find the target city they were to be congratulated, let alone the particular IP. To suggest that the average off target error achieved (5 miles at one point I believe) was a deliberate policy of Harris to ensure a "carpet of bombs" is a slur on him and his crews. City areas were targeted as it was unrealistic to expect anything more of Main Force. It was as good as you got by night over Europe in hostile skies with crews who mostly never survived long enough to qualify as experienced.
the Harris memorial was specifically targeted because of who he was
Well he was the AOC-in-C, diligently carrying out the orders of the Air Board and the War Cabinet. That they all abandoned him along with the Churchill, is a comment on them all rather than he. Same goes for the Neanderthals who "targeted" his statue. Sorry scratch the last, totally unwarranted slur on the Neanderthals!
Oh, one more thing. It didn't work? I have to disagree, crude as it was the Bombing Campaign was a war winning one in my view. Of course we would have had to not conduct it and still win for your view to be anything more than the prevailing "wisdom".